“Oh my, that’s delicious!” exclaimed my sister-in-law at dinner.
I had just poured her a glass of the Quartz Hill Viognier and she had sampled it before I even had the chance to. I hastily grabbed my glass to see what all the fuss was about. Normally I am a little suspect of the Viognier grape, only because of how infrequently I get to try it. Not being that familiar with the Quartz Hill winery from central Victoria, I decided to see what this one had to offer.
This wine was made from low-yielding grapes by two winemakers, Darrin Gaffy of the Principia wines and John Durham of Del Rios. They opted for a pristine, high-flavoured wine that was matured in aged French oak on lees for 16 months to give the wine great mouthfeel. The palate says hello with fresh, zingy acidity that is quickly followed up by full texture, thick lanolin notes and fancy French oak. Think flavours of paw paw with a hint of butter. The overall palate was smooth and beautifully balanced with cool-climate Chardonnay-like characters. Suffice to say that our little dinner party was impressed and we finished the bottle off all too quickly alongside a Moroccan chicken tagine.
RRP: $32