A recent encounter with Jeff Runquist had him explaining what he is after when it comes to Viognier, which is mainly the avoidance of bittering tones in the finish. To accomplish the feat in this bottling, the fruit was picked at a high sugar level, fermented dry at near sixteen percent alcohol, then run through a reverse osmosis filter to pull the alcohol down into the thirteen percent zone. This description had me expecting a thinned out wine, but it is anything but thin. Honeysuckle, linalool and a hint of mint are very expressive aromatically, and a nice viscosity on the palate delivers rich stone fruit flavors. Plus, mission accomplished — the process gets rid of the bitterness that’s often found in California examples. Nice work!
92 Rich Cook
Jeff Runquist, River Junction (San Joaquin Valley, California) Viognier 2023 ($25)
By Rich Cook
