#10- Viognier

The Viognier is indeed a winner. And all of the wine tasters (mother included) agree that the wine is simply delicious.

This wine was bought on a wine buying mission by yours truly. I'm heading out in a couple of weeks for a vacation so I thought it best to go and buy weeks worth of wine in one shot so I purchased four bottle of wine and at a grant total of $51. Liquor on McLeod (in Spruce Grove) is quickly becoming a favourite haunt of mine. Not only are they extremely helpful (they often look up various wines for me to provide me with additional information on a bottle of wine I'm considering), but they have an amazing variety of wines that competes with nearly any store out there. I especially love their discount rack where I found 3 of my 4 wine purchases (funnily enough, the Viognier was not one of them) and come with a 20 per cent discount.

My advice here is to become familiar with your local wine store, get to know the owners, don't be afraid to ask questions and see what discounts they do offer. Join their mailing list and find out when they have wine tastings. It's a great way to sample a variety of wines without forking over the cash. The Viognier I picked up is a French wine from Domaine de Mont-Auriol near the Mediterranean Sea.

With my wines in tow, I headed over to Maison du Parents for dinner. Pork was on the menu with a side of vegetables- a perfect combination for this white wine. And only in name. This wine is very rich and a dark yellow colour, a very nice contrast to the Gewurztraminer.

How do I describe this wine? I felt it immediately filled my mouth with wonderful goodness. Definitely a full bodied wine. My mother described how the taste hit her (in a good way) towards the back of her mouth that left you wanting more. Indeed this wine aims to please and doesn't miss.

It's fruity content paired well with the pork and left very little in terms of aftertaste. Craig quickly poured himself a glass and he too picked out the fruit flavours of the wine. It's too bad this grape in particular has become rare (it used to be quite plentiful in the Rhone Valley) because this grape makes for absolutely delicious wine.

If you want to impress at a dinner party or need a wine idea for a gift, impress them with the Viognier. It'll be sure to delight.

Next week it's back to the a red and a sister (Kristin) favourite, the Malbec! And rumour has it that an dessert wine is on top in the next couple of weeks. I'm busy researching the perfect dessert. But it's only rumour...