Texas Viognier is Blind Tasted Against California and France

Earlier in April we learned Pedernales Cellars had won a grand gold for its 2012 Viognier Reserve at the Lyon International Wine Competition. There were over 3,000 entries and out of approximately 200 grand gold medals, the Pedernales Viognier was the only one from the United States. A grand gold identifies a first place finish but also a unanimous vote among the judges.

This past weekend, sixteen Texas Viognier wines went head to head competing with each other, two California Viognier wines and a Viognier from the modern home of the grape, Condrieu, France in a blind taste test judged by seven professional sommeliers. The result, Texas wines took the top six spots with Pedernales Cellars 2012 Viognier Reserve taking the top honors.

The full results are here:

RANK (1 is highest)	WINE NAME
1	2012 Pedernales Cellars Reserve ($40)
2	2011 Brennan Vineyards ($17.50)
3	2012 Becker Vineyards ($15)
4	2012 McPherson Cellars ($14)
5	2012 Lost Oak Winery ($21)
6	2012 Pedernales Cellars ($18)
7	2011 Melville “Verna’s”, Santa Barbara County, CA ($25)
8	2012 Flat Creek Estate
8	2012 Perissos Vineyard and Winery
10	2010 Calera, Mt. Harlan CA ($34)
10	2011 Cross Timbers Winery
12	2010 LightCatcher Winery
13	2012 Llano Estacado Winery, TX Raider
14	2011 Landon Winery
15	2011 Saint Cosme Condrieu, France ($65)
16	2012 Landon Winery
17	2010/11 Blue Ostrich Winery & Vineyard
18	2012 Kiepersol Estates Winery
19	2010 Llano Estacado Winery, ‘Mont. Sec Vineyards’

Notes:

1) All the wines from Texas wineries are designated “Texas Viognier” on the label.

2) Texas wine prices are from the winery web site for a single bottle purchase. Case discounts usually apply. Prices for the other wines are single bottle prices that were paid at retail stores in Dallas.

The organizer of the event, Andrew Chalk, an editor at CraveDFW, said, “I put together this tasting because, after four years touring over 80 Texas wineries, I concluded that Viognier was the white grape that was most successful in the state. In fact, I felt it was reaching a level comparable with California Viognier (although maybe not that of France). I was baffled that the national media did not include Texas wines when they evaluated Viognier. Clearly, this was a matter that only the facts would settle: a blind tasting of French, California and Texas Viognier by expert palates to determine where the wines stood.”

You can read more about the blind tasting event with Andrew’s post at CraftDFW entitled “Texas Viognier Is Tested Against California and France – And Comes Out The Winner.”

Congratulations to all the Texas wineries!

Pedernales Cellars 2012 Viognier Reserve

It is ironic the blind tasting event was held recently and that Pedernales Cellars came out on top in the tasting. During our Memorial Day weekend trip to Fredericksburg, we came home with the same Pedernales Viognier Reserve and will soon be posting a wine review on it.