Just secured 2018 white wine grapes - Viognier!

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I'm so excited. @4score, @Busabill and I have made Chardonnay together for the past two years. It has done well, receiving Silvers at the State Fair. I wanted to do something different and a local winery makes a Viognier that I love. Being a home winemaker and trying to get fresh grapes can be a challenge, but I found a vineyard around an hour from me that agreed to sell a macro-bin (1,000 lbs) of Viognier to 4Score and me (Busa is tending to his new vineyard!). Really looking forward to it and decided that with my 25-30 gallons that I am going to make it in glass and make a few different oak variations. American, French, heavy & light. I figure in the end I can have a few different variations or blend out the ones I don't like.

IMG_2061.JPG
 
Going to make an un-oaked version? I love Viognier - probably my favorite white wine. I'm hoping to score some local grapes/juice at some point. Locals are producing some pretty nice stuff.
 
I like your oak approach. Made Viognier from juice buckets three years ago, loved it.
 
Going to make an un-oaked version? I love Viognier - probably my favorite white wine. I'm hoping to score some local grapes/juice at some point. Locals are producing some pretty nice stuff.
Yes, un-oaked through heavy oak. It will be an opportunity to really understand the influence of oak on a white. With 6 or so carboys, I should be able to make some good assessments.
 
Wow. A real challenge grape. Sensitive to terroir, viticulture practice, and wine maker skills. Will be interesting to watch your journey.
I have not visited the vineyard yet, but did research the wines made with their grapes. They only produce Syrah and Viognoir. The Syrahs have produced 90+ point wines, but they only produce 3 tons of Viognoir. I’ll check them out in July. I feel reasonably good with the Chardonnays I’ve made from less than great grapes. Hopefully this will be only better.
 
I have heard about small amounts of Viognier blended with Chardonnay to provide a little aromatic lift; you may have to explore that and let us know.
 
I wish I could get some damn grapes this year as my vines won't be ready for about 2 years. Except for my old vines. Which will be a small 10 gallon or so batch.

Looking forward to hearing how your wine turns out after the process is all over with.

I might try contacting a few local wineries, I know a couple of the owners so might get lucky, might try Talley, Rota. Which are a couple of local wineries.
 
Got a call for the vineyard owner and he is thinking the Viognoir will be at 24/25 this week! Kinda short notice, but I’m ready to get this season rocking and rolling.
 
Got a call for the vineyard owner and he is thinking the Viognoir will be at 24/25 this week! Kinda short notice, but I’m ready to get this season rocking and rolling.
Sounds like it will be making a nice wine
 
When @4score and I dropped off the bin and looked at the grapes a few weeks ago, I gave him a bottle of this year’s Chardonnay. His text to me; Thanks for the Chardonnay it was well made and frankly, was one of the best wines from an amateur producer I’ve had.

It’s always nice to receive valued feedback.
 
Got a call for the vineyard owner and he is thinking the Viognoir will be at 24/25 this week! Kinda short notice, but I’m ready to get this season rocking and rolling.


lets-get-ready-to-rumble.jpg
 
Got a call for the vineyard owner and he is thinking the Viognoir will be at 24/25 this week! Kinda short notice

Seems like an average warning time to me.

I track my brix to pH ratio in a graph. Even with that I sometimes only have a "warning time" window of a few day when harvest is ideal, and after I check other subjective factors.
 
Going to make an un-oaked version? I love Viognier - probably my favorite white wine. I'm hoping to score some local grapes/juice at some point. Locals are producing some pretty nice stuff.

Viognier is the signature white grape of Virginia, but I'm telling you getting local grapes this year is going to be tough.
 
Normally I receive 2-3 weeks of brix readings, instead of a few days. The vineyard owner called and said the cool weather this last week really slowed things down and it’s going to be another week.
 
We received the green light and are set to pick up 1,000 pounds of Viognier tomorrow morning. Time to prep the garage and mix up some Starsan.
Plan is to destem, crush, press and split the juice between me and @4score. That is when the wine will go two different directions.
 
I'm so excited. @4score, @Busabill and I have made Chardonnay together for the past two years. It has done well, receiving Silvers at the State Fair. I wanted to do something different and a local winery makes a Viognier that I love. Being a home winemaker and trying to get fresh grapes can be a challenge, but I found a vineyard around an hour from me that agreed to sell a macro-bin (1,000 lbs) of Viognier to 4Score and me (Busa is tending to his new vineyard!). Really looking forward to it and decided that with my 25-30 gallons that I am going to make it in glass and make a few different oak variations. American, French, heavy & light. I figure in the end I can have a few different variations or blend out the ones I don't like.

View attachment 49437
Nice! Interested to know how the oaked Viognier is. I have made mine without. It might be interesting to see how specific tannins impact the wine. Scott Labs has some new ones that are enticing, including a FT Blanc CITRUS one:
https://scottlab.com/fermentation-cellar/product-type=tannins/?viewMode=grid&count=21
 

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