My quest for a good bottle of Viognier is over.

"We had a Viognier at so and so restaurant and it was very nice, but I don't remember the name." a friend told me during the holidays. Everytime I hear about Viognier it is always the same. People have had a great bottle of Viognier and remark how they really liked it.

I am here to say that I had yet to find a Viognier (pronounced VEE-own-YAY) that I was really crazy about. I had a Viognier from a Missouri winery at dinner one night when I was on my Missouri wine trail trip in May 2008. It was ho hum. I did not even bother to write down the name of the winery. I had Viognier in Western Colorado on the Grand Valley Wine Trail a couple of years ago and it was, yawn, nothing to get excited about.

The Voignier grape originally came from the Rhône river valley in France. It originated in the Condrieu AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) and the Château-Grillet AOC. It was originally used as a blending grape but since the late 1990s has been bottled on its own as a single varietal.

I am on a quest to find a Viognier that will really grab me. The quest reminds me of tasting ten bottles of Bordeaux last spring and having a reader make a suggestion that blew my socks off. I know that the Voignier for me is just around the corner.

Last fall we went on an RV trip and one of the things I wanted to experience were the wines in Northern New Mexico. We went in late September during the harvest and had a great trip. It was so good that we are going on an other RV trip to New Mexico and Arizona in May.

One of the wineries we stopped at was Black Mesa Winery in Velverde. We stepped up the the wine tasting area and noticed that they had a 2007 Viognier. We looked at one another and I thought, "Why not?".

Black Mesa Viognier 2007 12.3%
Black Mesa
800-852-6372
Velverde NM
$16.75

The nose of this wine was a slight citrus and pear. On the palate wine was crisp and bright and I could definitely taste the citrus.

At last my journey was over and I was really excited that I had finally found a Viognier that was worth writing about. The good news? You can purchase wine directly from their friendly web site without having to go to New Mexico. You can visit the online store at Black Mesa Winery.

We will be stopping at Black Mesa Winery on our trip in May and we will also be making a stop at the Santa Fe Winery to get more Santa Fe Blush .

You can see the label here:
Black Mesa Viognier 2007

Let me know what is on your mind, and how you are doing, O.K.?

Jim Fortune - Bella Online Wine Guy
"No pipe - No cigars!"

Looking for a special wine? Try the Wine Searcher search engine!