Am I changing, or is it something else? I feel drawn to the Viognier. I know the story is all Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at By Farr, but my word, if this wine isn't consistently pure joy and vinous perfection. Viognier has a gift to blow out, become rich and a little overbearing, but here, in Bannockburn, a place familiar with sunlight, where Viognier's gift could easily shine, they hold the reins tightly. A thoroughbred, poised, rippling and ready to excite. (I know how weird that sounds, just bare with me)

So what does that mean exactly? In my head, it means I can tell the wine is made from the Viognier grape, but it's refreshing enough for me to want to drink more without it being too rich or cloying. The tasting note would read something like this. A note of apricot, not jam, but fresh and ripe off the tree, still warm from the last rays of the sun. I think if you can feel on your skin, a memory of what a wine smells like, it's already done its job. At least for me it has. A stony, crunchy acidity, that tastes like white pebbles being rubbed together in your hands in a dry river bed, feels like. Can you hear it? Can you feel it too?

The texture of the wine fits easily into the framework of modern Australian Chardonnay, but those exotic fruit notes set it apart. For those of you who have the luxury of cellaring wine, or more importantly, have greater self control than I do, a couple of years in the cellar will bring back even more memories.

By Farr Viognier

The By Farr viognier consists of a blend of fruit from two 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 viognier is a difficult variety to manage as it has a tendency to grow horizontally rather than vertically, needs a lot of water and can become sunburnt very easily. Because of this we have decided to pick the fruit earlier in the past few years in order to retain its natural acidity, ensuring we maintain varietal character and creating a more delicate and refined wine.

Vinification

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.

Tasting Notes

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.