Silvia brought this last night to share w/ our group:
1. Harlequin ViognierCliftonVnyd/ColumbiaVlly/WashState (14.5%) RobertGoodfriend/ElizabethCook/Touchet 2005: Light gold color; strong waxy/lanolin/hand lotion bit valve oil fragrant pear/peach/Viog rather quiet/understated quite perfumed/lovely nose; soft quiet/low-key pear/peach/Viog bit lanolin/valve oil slight cotton candy/banana candy/honeyed slight complex quite lovely flavor w/ no signs of nutty/oxidation; very long/lingering cotton candy/lanolin some peach/pear/Viog bit complex finish; no signs of oxidation whatsoever and speaks quietly of Viognier still.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This wine was made by a good friend of mine, RobertGoodfriend. He was the chef/owner of one of my all-time favorite SantaFe restaurants, e.k.mas. I spent many an afternoon & evening on the patio of e.k.mas drinking fine wine w/ Robert. How I do miss his ras-maz. He also own TheTastingRoom on PostSt in Seattle. The Harlequin WebSite is pretty stale, so I don't know if Robert is still making wine or not.
This wine, in its youth, was classic DollyPartonViognier...loads of intense ripe Viog fruit and on the soft side in a jiggly/silicone-laden/bra-busting way. I was expecting this wine to be totally shot. DollyPartonViogniers don't typically age well. This Viog was definitely not shot. There was absolutely no signs of oxidation in it. It's a quiet/understated Viognier that's just quietly fading into the sunset of its yrs and still delivers ample pleasure.
Tom