What Is Viognier?
Viognier is the white wine that gets sent back. Somebody orders it expecting a crisp, zippy white like a Sauvignon Blanc, gets a glass that smells like apricots and honeysuckle and feels round and almost oily in the mouth, and decides something is wrong with it. Nothing is wrong with it. That is the grape.
It is also one of the best white grapes Israel grows, which is why it keeps turning up in the fine print of Israeli white blends. Here is what it is, how to say it, and which bottles are worth your money.
How to say it, and where it comes from
Vee-oh-NYAY. The final r is silent.
Its home is the northern Rhône valley in France, and specifically a tiny, steep appellation called Condrieu, where Viognier is the only grape permitted. In the 1960s the variety was nearly gone, down to a few dozen acres in the world, because it is a difficult grape: it ripens late, it crops unevenly, and if you pick it a week late it loses its acidity and tastes flat. Growers planted other things. Then the style came back into fashion in the 1980s and 1990s and it was planted again across the south of France, California, Australia and Israel.
What it tastes like
Apricot and white peach first, then honeysuckle, orange blossom, sometimes anise or a drop of honey. The aromatics are loud. You can usually smell a glass of Viognier across a table.
In the mouth it is the opposite of what the nose promises. It is dry, but full-bodied and low in acid, so it feels soft and wide rather than sharp. Think of the body of a Chardonnay with the perfume of a Moscato and none of the sugar. People who say they do not like white wine because it is too thin and too sour are often describing everything Viognier is not.
| If you like | Viognier will feel |
|---|---|
| Sauvignon Blanc | Much rounder and much less sharp. A real change |
| Oaked Chardonnay | Similar weight, but floral and stone fruit instead of butter and vanilla |
| Moscato | The same perfume, but dry. This is the useful step up |
Sauvignon Blanc vs Chardonnay vs Pinot Grigio maps out the three whites most people already know, if you want to place Viognier against them.
The one varietal kosher Viognier to know
Psagot Viognier at $30.99 is the bottle that shows you the grape on its own, with nothing else in the blend to hide behind. The fruit comes from cool vineyards at Moshav Mata, deep in the Judean Hills, and the wine is split half French oak and half stainless steel with eight months on the lees, which is what gives it that textured, layered feel.
Anise, apricot, honey and lemon zest on the nose. Soft citrus and ripe stone fruit on the palate with a hint of oak, and a long finish that stays floral. It carries a Badatz hechsher and it is not mevushal, so keep it in the family's hands if that matters at your table.
Pour it with salmon, roast chicken with lemon, a dairy Shabbos lunch, or Mediterranean mezze. It also handles a spicy Moroccan fish, which is more than most whites will do.
Where else you are already drinking it
Viognier is a brilliant blending grape, because a small amount of it lifts the aromatics of a whole blend. Four Israeli whites on our shelf use it that way.
| Bottle | Viognier's job in it | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Ella Valley White | Floral lift over Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from Judean hillside fruit | $19.99 |
| Vitkin White Israeli Journey | Part of the Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc core, barrel-fermented before blending | $21.99 |
| Yatir Mt. Amasa White | A Rhône-style field blend aged in concrete amphorae, oak and steel | $39.99 |
| Five Stones D vs G White | Floral top notes over Roussanne and Sauvignon Blanc from the Adulam valley | $39.99 |
Ella Valley White at $19.99 is the easiest way in: bright, medium-bodied, citrus blossom and white peach, and it shifts a little with each vintage depending on how the hillside fruit came in.
Vitkin White Israeli Journey at $21.99 is the one for people who like knowing what is in the bottle. Grapes come from several growing areas, part of the Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc went into new French oak for two months before blending, and the whole thing then sat on its lees in steel for three months.
Yatir Mt. Amasa White and Five Stones D vs G White are both $39.99 and both carry an OU hechsher. The Yatir comes off high desert terroir in the Yatir Forest and is partly matured in concrete amphorae, which gives it a saline, mineral spine under the stone fruit. The Five Stones is from the Adulam region, in the valley where David picked up his five stones, and it leans harder on the flowers.
The trick the Rhône plays with it, and we sell it for $13.99
In the northern Rhône, growers co-ferment a few percent of white Viognier in with the red Syrah. The white grape does not make the red wine paler or sweeter. It fixes the color, softens the tannin and throws a floral note over the top of the pepper.
Carmel Selected Mediterranean Blend at $13.99 does exactly that: 45% Shiraz, 30% Carignan, 20% Petite Sirah and 5% Viognier co-fermented in. It is a red wine with a white grape inside it, it is OU certified, and it costs less than almost anything else on this page. If you want the red side of that story, Syrah vs Shiraz and what is Petite Sirah are the two grapes doing the heavy lifting in it.
How to serve it
Cold, but not ice cold. Viognier is bought for its perfume, and a wine straight out of the back of the fridge has no smell at all. Chill it properly, then let the bottle stand on the counter for ten or fifteen minutes before you pour. Around 50 to 55 degrees is where the apricot shows up.
Use a normal white wine glass rather than a narrow flute, because the whole point is the aromatics and they need some room.
For food: roast chicken, salmon, lemony fish, chicken schnitzel, Moroccan and Mediterranean cooking, and soft cheeses. On a dairy table it is one of the better choices, and what wine goes with cheese explains why richer whites do more work on a cheese board than reds do.
Browse the full kosher white wine shelf, or if you want another white grape nobody talks about, what is French Colombard is the lighter, sharper end of the same idea. Free shipping on orders $150+ in the lower 48.
