2007 Ketcham Estate Sonoma County Viognier

We served this wine with the main course of seared ahi tuna and Israeli couscous. It was a very nice complement.

Winemaker's tasting notes: The wine is crafted from two small family-farmed vineyards - 50% Kick Ranch in Sonoma County, and 50% Marsha’s Vineyard just off Olivet Lane in the Russian River Valley. Both vineyards benefited from the long growing season; no grapes were picked until early October. The wine was fermented in stainless steel, which always provides a lighter and more nuanced wine. This shows a crisp refreshing style with typical Viognier complexity and layers of flavors. Viognier is typically full-bodied with effusive aromas, and our Viognier carries the torch proudly. A terrific food wine, you can pair this with traditional favorites like pasta and seafood, but we have also tried it with spicy stir-fries and Thai food and found it a great pairing. We are happy to have produced a very unique California Viognier. 246 cases produced.

Not a lot of this wine was produced, so there aren't many reviews around for it.

2006 Leonesse Cellars Viognier

From Temecula Valley, about 100 miles southeast of us in southern Riverside County. We've been members of their wine club for several years. Nearly impossible to find their wines outside of the Temecula and San Diego area.

This Viognier is fresh and inviting, offering aromas of honeysuckle and orange blossom typical of this varietal. Caren likes the nose on a Viognier. Blended with 18% Roussanne, this wine is bursting with layers of apricot and melon before a crisp, clean and refreshing finish.

This was the white wine we served for the Olympics party.

2005 Michael David Incognito Viognier

The Michael-David family of wines are from the Lodi, California area, near Sacramento. They specialize in several very popular, value priced wines. Probably their most famous wine is "7 Deadly Zins."

Incognito's grapes are grown in the Ripken Vineyard, east of the Carquinez Straits in the Sacramento River Delta. Warm days and cool evenings - reminiscent of the clone's native Rhone Valley - produce the powerful and intense fruit with a sultry body that characterizes this wine, making it unlike any other Viognier.

Pear and honeysuckle aromas open up into flavors of passion fruit, green apple and a lingering finish. It's a very good summer drinking wine. We had it with a large barbequed chicken salad.