viognier

  1. Darioush Viognier: A Surprise Hit from Napa, Even With Mom

    Darioush Viognier: A Surprise Hit from Napa, Even With Mom

    Hope Goldie, whose chemist father made wine at home in Washington, studied enology and food science at UC-Davis and worked at Opus One, Stags’ Leap and Rutherford Hill Winery before joining Darioush in 2005. She has held various winemaking jobs there, from enologist to assistant winemaker to director of winemaking and, now, vice president of winemaking. John met her earlier this year during the Wine Writers’ Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. She is charming, funny and deeply knowledgeable, so we were eager to catch up and ask her some questions, including the simplest: Why Viognier? While it’s widely planted around the world, especially in the Rhône Valley, where it’s especially famous in Condrieu, it’s fairly unusual in the U.S. and even more unusual in Napa Valley, especially as a stand-alone varietal. In 2023, there were 2,555 acres of Viognier in California and 88,063 acres of Chardonnay, according to the California Grape Acreage Report. And last year, the report noted, there were only 117 acres of Viognier in Napa compared to 22,945 of Cabernet Sauvignon.

  2. Dave Miner's Passion for California Viognier

    Dave Miner's Passion for California Viognier

    "I have always loved Condrieu so it's fun and I've worked with some guys such as Francois Villard and Yves Gangloff and hung out with them a lot and learned a lot from them." Dave Miner
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