One of, if not the best Viogniers in the country. The By Farr viognier comes from two family owned vineyards. The first is the original house block, planted in 1994, which is friable red soil over limestone leading to sandstone—similar soils to the Sangreal pinot noir and By Farr chardonnay. The second vineyard is a younger planting of unknown clones in red ironstone soil.
The wine has a lovely perfumed, yet subtle expression of viognier. Fresh peach and apricot flavours as a young wine, which we believe will intensify over time. The palate is restrained, luscious and shows a ginger-flavoured freshness with underlying power and lingering aftertaste. This wine benefits beautifully from 12 months of bottle ageing, as the acid softens. Compelling stuff.
Viognier can be a challenging to work with, as winemaker Nick states, the trick is to catch the variety when it's just on the cusp of ripeness to achieve a balance of equal parts flavour and fine minerality through the finished wine. All in all Nick is super excited about the fruit and the wines they are becoming, yet it is the smallest vintage since 2002!
For vinification the Viognier is foot stomped and left for two or more hours on its skins to extract the phenols, flavour and texture. The fruit is then pressed, cooled and put straight into barrel with all solids for a natural fermentation. Gentle stirring during the end of autumn encourages malolactic fermentation, which softens the finish by converting the tart malic acid to lactic acid. The wine is then racked, fined and filtered. It is ready to be bottled 11 months after harvest.
One of, if not the best Viogniers in the country. The By Farr viognier comes from two family owned vineyards. The first is the original house block, planted in 1994, which is friable red soil over limestone leading to sandstone—similar soils to the Sangreal pinot noir and By Farr chardonnay. The second vineyard is a younger planting of unknown clones in red ironstone soil.
The wine has a lovely perfumed, yet subtle expression of viognier. Fresh peach and apricot flavours as a young wine, which we believe will intensify over time. The palate is restrained, luscious and shows a ginger-flavoured freshness with underlying power and lingering aftertaste. This wine benefits beautifully from 12 months of bottle ageing, as the acid softens. Compelling stuff.
Viognier can be a challenging to work with, as winemaker Nick states, the trick is to catch the variety when it's just on the cusp of ripeness to achieve a balance of equal parts flavour and fine minerality through the finished wine. All in all Nick is super excited about the fruit and the wines they are becoming, yet it is the smallest vintage since 2002!
For vinification the Viognier is foot stomped and left for two or more hours on its skins to extract the phenols, flavour and texture. The fruit is then pressed, cooled and put straight into barrel with all solids for a natural fermentation. Gentle stirring during the end of autumn encourages malolactic fermentation, which softens the finish by converting the tart malic acid to lactic acid. The wine is then racked, fined and filtered. It is ready to be bottled 11 months after harvest.
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