What's up everyone? As I write today's wine review it is a Sunday and the beginning of January, 2023. I hope you all got a chance to relax today and do whatever it is you wanted or needed to do. Here in "Freedom" Florida it is 75 beautiful degrees and while a lot of the country is digging out from snow or wrapping themselves up in jackets or blankets, I began to break out the garden stuff as in a couple of days I will be planting (still indoors) some seeds for this years tomatoes and vegetables. I really get excited this time of year because it means the beginning of me being in the garden and that is always relaxing. Today I even trimmed up my banana plant that is believe it or not, still growing a bunch of bananas from last year and which I do hope to eat eventually. Today, I am also in the mood to celebrate the coming Spring/Summer seasons by reviewing a wine varietal that is made for the Sun, I will see you in the next paragraph and you will find out which varietal I chose.
Today guys, I will be taking a look at the 2021 F.Stephen Millier, Viognier. I bought this wine from the on line wine club, Naked Wines which by the way, I have belonged to for about four years now. I paid $12.99 for this wine and the bottle is cork (real) sealed. The wine comes in at 14% alcohol and its grapes come from a single vineyard in Calaveras County which is located in the High Sierra of California.
Let's move on now and talk about the label on the bottle.
Most wine reviewers for whatever reason, don't understand the importance of the wine label. I have always contended that the label being the first thing the consumer sees, is vitally important to selling a wine. Are you looking for a serious wine? If so, is does the label come across as serious? Are you looking for a Summer pool wine? Is the label bright and filled with color? I hope you see where I am coming from here. As far as this particular label goes, I am not a lover of it at all. To me, the label is dark and conveys the winter months rather then what it should be celebrating which is the Spring/Summertime. Pushing that aside, I just am not a lover of the fonts used either.
 |
| Viognier Taste Profile |
Okay, now let's move onto the nose of this wine. As I bring the wine to my nose I am getting a nice bit of a honeydew melon as well as light baked apple.
As for the palate presentation of the wine, the first thing I get is oak. I unfortunetly find the the oak to be a good bit overdone and I find it also to be a note that also unfortunately dominates the wine. There is melon note to the wine which is very nice though but try as it might, it really can't over power that oak. A baked apple note is present here as well but it really seems to latch on to that oak in a way and...yeah...it's just not my favorite. I am getting some nectarine but by its nature, it seems to just play into the oak/baked apple thing and try as it might, it can't pull itself away. Acidity is high which is nice and is one of the positive notes to the wine. Okay so....I am sitting out back by my pool in some beautiful weather, sipping on this wine.
I want you to know this so you get my mindset. Keeping this in mind and knowing what I am tasting, I have to ask, are ya smelling what the rock is cooking as an old wrestler would say? Now go ahead and add a bit of a butteriness note to the wine and for me, that is more than enough to shut this review down. This butteriness just pushes the knife even deeper into the heart of the wine and really finishes it off. So there you have it guys, this review while rather short, is done and I will see you in the next paragraph to wrap it all up.
 |
| Viognier Grapes on the Vine |
Alright so the wine is bad. I can't say it any more blunt, I do not recommend you buy it. Oak and baked apple just dominate the wine and that is not good in my book. I have three quarters of a bottle left and it is going down the drain. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving the wine 84 points and getting my money back from Naked Wines.
The Desert Wine Guy
https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/
https://facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf
https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos
https://www.instagram.com/thedesertwineguy/?next=%2F
https://odysee.com/@Thedesertwineguy:0 
