Spring rains soaked Denis Hoey’s estate vineyard along River Road. The viognier grapes did not appreciate such treatment. Even waiting out the harvest season didn’t help, as the fruit stubbornly refused to fully ripen. But as the saying goes, when nature hands you a problem, you make the best of it.
Hoey’s solution is the recently released 2023 Sparkling Viognier under Odonata winery’s Cote du Denis label, and it’s a marvel of inspired improvisation. On the nose it greets you pleasantly with impressions of peach and citrus, as well as hints of sea breeze and white pepper. Tip the glass and your palate is rewarded with glistening fruits – bright, fresh peach playing over a more tempered tangerine. Beneath this are genteel floral notes and a grounded minerality. The bubbles are almost pillowy soft.
“It’s a little richer than some,” Hoey says.
He points out that with such a long maturation on the vine, creating a sparkler instead of the still wine he had originally planned was the best option, and one would have to agree. It’s a brisk and intriguing wine that is also merry, suited to a celebratory season.
Hoey relied on tradition – methode champenoise and the tedium of riddling, demanding the same patience as he showed during harvest. Hoey opted for a low dosage, just a gram of added sugar per liter making for a virtually natural wine. Not bad for a first-ever estate sparkling Viognier.
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