Yalumba, 'The Virgilius' Viognier, 2023

""2023 was a cooler year, and the season presented good opportunity for aromatic whites," says winemaker Louisa Rose. "The Virgilius that was produced this season is a classic iteration. The wine is not from one single vineyard, although it does predominantly come from one vineyard planted in 1980 in Angaston, which is around 380 meters in elevation. The Viognier loves the extra fertility in the soils here. The part of Angaston—Eden Valley—that the vineyard is in is old orchard country." The fruit is picked and pressed directly to mature oak puncheons. The wine sits on its full lees for around nine or 10 months, unless a barrel selection reveals the more tightly wound and focused examples. This is refined and driven by fine phenolics, with emerging width through the finish that is most attractive and very smart. Although I first tasted and reviewed this wine only a month ago, I subsequently had the opportunity to taste the Yalumba wines with winemaker Louisa Rose in Perth, so I decided to write a new review for this wine based on that tasting. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."

"The 2023 Yalumba Virgilius Viognier is Yalumba’s flagship white and as fine a Viognier as you’ll find outside or even – dare I whisper it? – inside Condrieu, the grape’s spiritual home. It’s so light on its feet and where many a Viognier is flabby and cloying, it’s restrained and elegant with delicate wafts of peach and apricot rather than overwhelming gusts."