Viognier makes rich, mouth-filling wines that can provide a welcome alternative to chardonnay, especially as many have a hint of nuttiness from barrel fermentation and lees ageing as chardonnay often does.
Originally from the Rhone Valley, where it almost died out in the 1960s, viognier has become a fashionable variety, although still relatively uncommon.
Although it is not in the cheap and cheerful bracket yet, there are some affordable, good-value New Zealand viogniers.
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine-tasting and evaluation is subjective. These are personal recommendations. charmian.smith@odt.co.nz
Hints of stonefruit, citrus and toasty hazelnuts, a rich, oily texture and a crisp finish.
4 stars (out of 5)
Good value
Match with chicken with nuts or apricots.
Another affordable, mouth-filling wine with hints of toasted nuts, an oily texture and creamy finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Match with chicken or pork
A fruit-salady wine, oozing tropical fruit, melon, passionfruit pulp and pineapple with a creamy texture and firm finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Try with chicken or fish with passionfruit jus.
There's lots of toasty oak and buttered nuts here, but the fruit, with hints of honeysuckle and mineral, shines through this bright, mouth-filling wine.
4 stars (out of 5)
Average value
A classy wine oozing complex flavours of smoky oak, toasted nuts and rich fruit.
It's full in the mouth, rich, stylish and powerful. Worth savouring as it develops in the glass.
5 stars (out of 5)
Average value
A truly rich, unctuous, mouthfilling wine, intensely sweet, reeking of dried apricots and manuka honey and finishing with a clean, lingering aftertaste.
One of the most deliciously decadent botrytised wines.
4 stars (out of 5)
Savour by itself or with pear and walnut tatin.
