Wine Review: James Charles Winery & Vineyard 2014 Viognier

Is Viognier the best wine with lobster? It's gotta be, right? I say it is. Some say that a buttery Chardonnay is, but you're already having butter with the lobster so why would you go with a buttery Chardonnay? Sounds redundant and stupid. Viognier. Best wine with lobster. Remember that.

It's also the pride and joy of Virginia viticulture and winemaking. From what I've read, it makes not only the best wine in Virginia but possibly the best Viognier in the country. Viognier's hometown, however, is Rhone Valley in France. It's safe to say that it's native to Rhone but there's reason to believe that it was brought there by the ancient Greeks. But whatever. It's killing it in Virginia now. They even share a first letter! It was meant to be!

James Charles 2014 Viognier is the second portion of a three-part Virginia wine series. The other ones are Bogadi Bodega & Vineyard 2014 Seyval Blanc and Veramar Vineyards 2014 Cabernet Franc. All three of those guys (James Charles, Bogadi and Veramar) are products of the Bogady family. James Charles Bogady bought his first vineyard in 1995, and in 2000 he and his wife Della founded Veramar Vineyards. Their son Justin became the winemaker in 2001. James Charles Winery & Vineyard was started by Justin in honor of his father.

ANGRY DWARF

I'm really fighting the urge to do this review super quick and get back to the PS4. DC Universe Online has taken over my life. I used to play video games often, especially NHL and Civilization, but the last four years has required a lot of adulting. So gaming took a huge hit. Then our PS3 (which we used for video streaming and DVD/BluRay) was on its last leg so we bought the PS4. We also got Disney Infinity 3.0 with a bunch of the figures for my daughter to play. So of course, guess who had to play the game late into the night so she could have all sorts of cool stuff and have Olaf as a sidekick? That would be me. And it gave me this irresistible feeling to take a break from the wine books for a bit to be a normal human of my age group and play some games. Buuuut I really didn't want to spend money. The PS3, Disney Infinity, new brakes, rotors and calipers left me broke. So I looked for the free stuff and came across DCUO, which I didn't even know existed.

I was VERY excited to see this, having always been more of a DC guy over Marvel. I have my Marvel guys that I like, such as Spiderman and Moon Knight, but DC just appeals to me more. It's more... galactic. The stories are further-reaching into its universe and just better. I've said this many times and I'll say it again: there is no better superhero comic than when Green Lantern is done right. The problem is that it's not done right very often. But still, Green Lantern is my favorite. Of course this is all based on what I know from, like, 15+ years ago. Marvel does do things a thousand times better on the big screen, but I prefer DC when it comes to comic book form. Plus... most important of all... DC just has cooler villains than Marvel.

P1ECOSTOMUS

So yeah. I'm hooked on a video game again. If you play DCUO and you see a little guy named Angry Dwarf with a big ass hammer (UPDATE: it's now a big ass axe), that's my hero. "Dwarf" being a combo of the mythical dwarf race and the very real dwarf star, not a knock on people with dwarfism. My villain is a big, pistol-wielding, flying dude named P1ecostomus, after your common aquarium sucker-fish. But I'm focusing on the hero play right now.

Oh... wine! You didn't come here for a video game and comic book blog. I like the label on this Viognier. Even the material used. Very nice. The white background with black and a pop of green really brings out the color of the wine, which is a light gold. The wine was made in stainless steel and has a 12.9% ABV.

I suggest you be cool and drink this Viognier just slightly chilled. That's how you're supposed to drink most whites but there are those that you must because it makes a HUGE difference. You can get away with refrigerator-cold but you'll be robbing yourself of some awesome juice. You don't want to do that, now do you? No you don't. Drink this between 50° to 55° F, please.

On the nose there's aromas of white peach, apricots, ginger and honeysuckle. With those descriptors what else could it be but Viognier? Just by the expressiveness of the nose I could tell the palate was going to be killer and it didn't let me down. It's full bodied with a mouthfeel that combines lush and oil. If this was a red we'd be calling it meaty. I didn't get minerality on the nose but dry stone is all over the palate. There's also white peach, apricots and kiwi. It finishes with apricots, citrus peel and minimum effects from acidity.

Damn! That is some intense Viognier! One of the best I've ever had! But it's almost $30 a bottle so a perfect score is hard to achieve. For that price it better be incredible. So I'm giving this a 4 out of 5 in price vs quality. It's truly a great bottle of wine and I recommend that you buy it when you see it if the price fits your wallet.

Remember. Viognier. Lobster.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $28

Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was provided free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.