Viogner

Viognier, This award winning French varietal has a fragrant and aromatic nose of apricots and honeysuckle. It is a beautiful variety that grows on our vineyard that many people come from far and wide to obtain from our winery!

History
The origin of the Viognier grape is unknown. Viognier is presumed to be an ancient grape, and some have hypothesized that it may have originated in Dalmatia and was brought to Rhône by the Romans. One legend states that the Roman emperor Probus brought the vine to the region in 281 AD. Another legend has the grape packaged with Syrah on a cargo ship navigating the Rhone River en route to Beaujolais when it was captured near the site of present day Condrieu by a local group of outlaws known as culs de piaux.

The origin of the name Viognier is also obscure. The most common namesake is the French city of Vienne, which was a major Roman outpost. Another legend has it drawing its name from the Roman pronunciation of the via Gehennae, meaning the "road to Hell". Probably this is an allusion to the difficulty of growing the grape.

Viognier was once fairly common. Now it is a rare white grape grown almost exclusively in the northern Rhône regions of France. In 1965, the grape was almost extinct when there were only eight acres in Northern Rhône producing only 1 900 liters of wine. The popularity and price of the wine have risen and thus the number of plantings has increased. Rhône now has over 740 acres (3.0 km2) planted.

In 2004, DNA profiling conducted at University of California, Davis showed the grape to be closely related to the Piedmont grape Freisa and to be a genetic cousin of Nebbiolo.