2009 Failla Alban Vineyard Viognier

Failla is on the Sonoma Coast. It was founded in 1998 by the husband-and-wife team of Ehren Jordan and Anne-Marie Failla and it was known as Failla Jordan. Three years later they were legally required to change the name of their winery because of an already existing winery called Jordan Vineyards. Failla Jordan shortened their business name simply to Failla with the 2002 vintage. Winemaker Ehren Jordan worked in winemaking in the Rhone Valley and then became winemaker at Neyers Vineyards and Turley Wine Cellars. Failla makes primarily Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Robert M. Parker Jr. has generally rated Failla wines in the 90s, and notes that Ehren Jordan “continues to exhibit a French-inspired sensitivity to winemaking….Failla is an excellent source of elegant, flavor-filled, complex wines…”

Edna Valley AVA is within San Luis Obispo County, and within the large Central Coast AVA. Edna Valley became an AVA in 1982 and it includes 22,400 acres of extremely fertile land blessed with a long growing season. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the principal grapes, though Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Albarino, Grenache, Viognier, Merlot and Petite Sirah also are grown. Spanish missionaries were growing grape vines in the Edna Valley in the 18th century, but the valley’s modern wine industry took off in the 1970s. Today there are more than 50 Edna Valley wineries.

This is a full-bodied white variety has plenty of natural aromatics such as peach and violets. It’s a low yielding fruit, so it is grown for its taste over its economics. Viognier is considered an ancient grape and an early favorite of the Roman emperors.