Viognier is a rare variety from the Rhone Valley, France. It likes the sun and needs to be fully ripe to express the exotic flavours of the grape. They have planted Viognier on North facing slopes to maximize sun exposure and the site is protected from the cooling Southerly breezes. It is the hottest terroir on Excelsior. They only start picking when the grapes taste like apricots. Grapes are harvested by hand for greater quality control. The wines are immediately destemmed and cooled. Skin contact was maintained for 4 hours, and then the grapes were carefully pressed in order to avoid bitter phenols, something that can really hamper Viognier. The wine was then cold-fermented for 15 days at temperatures of 15° Celsius. Lees contact was maintained for 3 months in order to give greater fullness to the final wine. After fermentation a late harvest Viognier portion was blended back into the wine for further richness.
