Great Northwest Wine
June 25, 2017
Viognier ranks among the most maddening and confounding grapes. It is difficult to grow, and it is equally difficult to make into a balanced and delicious wine.
Yet the grape and its often highly floral aromatics has captured the imagination of Northwest winemakers, many of them caught up in the growing interest in Rhône varieties.
Viognier originates in France’s northern Rhône Valley, in a region just south of Côte-Rôtie called Condrieu. As recently as 1965, Viognier had dwindled to just a few acres and appeared on the brink of extinction when its fortunes and plantings improved.
It was first planted in Washington in the 1970s, with some of the first Viognier going in at Red Willow Vineyard in the western Yakima Valley.>>>Read the entire article featuring Armstrong Family Winery, Truth Teller Winery and William Church Winery on Great Northwest Wine