Zaca Mesa Viognier 2005

After a period of winemaker musical chairs at Zaca Mesa a few years ago, veteranCentral Coast winemaker, Clay Brock (formerly at Edna Valley Vineyards) took the reins at thewinery, quickly sized up the potential, encouraged the ongoing replanting of the estate vineyardsand, last but not least, began crafting delicious user-friendly Rhone style wines.The Zaca Mesa Viognier is consistently one of the best of its type in the state, but let’skeep that as our little secret, eh? The 2005 version is pale straw in color, with aromatics thatinclude florals, like orange blossom, white gardenia and honeysuckle, mixed with fruit aromaticslike white peach, Asian pear, lychee nut, Mandarin orange and quince. I could go on but seriouslythe nose on this thing makes it seem like an exotic perfume; hey, dab a little behind your earsbefore you go out and I think you’ll certainly get noticed.On the palate, it’s probably softer and more honeyed than last year, but also more mouthfilling. Flavors of ripe nectarine and peach skins, along with dried apricots and lychee nut, are inthe mix, as well as minute bits of other fruits and florals that are well integrated into a complexwhole. The ripeness level gives the impression of sweetness but the finish is crisp and dry. Everyyear I tell the folks at Zaca Mesa they need to raise the price of this wine; it’s certainlycomparable to a $25 or $30 Viognier. Fortunately, they never listen to me.

This estate-bottled Viogner from Santa Barbara has aromas of honeysuckle and mandarin orange. On the palate, this wine is deliciously dry, with apricot, mineral, and peach notes. Produced with limited intervention, this Rhone Ranger has created a great viogner.