Zaca Mesa Winery - Our Wines

Growing Season and Harvest
After a dry, cold winter, the vines were a little slow waking up in the spring, about 4 weeks later than usual. Spring was very mild, but sunny. It finally started to warm up around the 4th of July and stayed nice through the end of September with the usual heat wave around Labor Day. Harvest came about 4 weeks late as well. We started and finished in October. Yields were little due to the cold start but the quality was exceptional.

Winemaking
After we hand harvested this Viognier, it began fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Halfway through fermentation, it was transferred to neutral French oak barrels. The wine was then aged for three months, but was not allowed to go through malolactic fermentation. This short barrel aging provides the rich, creamy mouth feel.

The Wine
On the nose, aromas of honeysuckle and white peach hint at sweetness. However, this wine is dry on the palate with notes of ripe apricot, lemon-lime, melon and lychee. A lingering finish has a touch of minerality, a signature characteristic of our vineyard. A natural pairing would be Thai chicken, raw oysters, ahi tuna or Szechuan prawns.

"Light to medium-light golden yellow; pleasant, herbal, earthy, lemony, white peach, and honeysuckle aroma; medium-full bodied; forward, slightly viscous, white peach and apricot flavors with bright acidity and a note of minerality; lingering aftertaste." Highly Recommended, 88/100. California Grapevine, August-September 2008

Best of Show, Best White Wine, Best White Rhone Varieties - Santa Barbara County Fair Wine Competition

Platium Medal - Critics Challenge Wine Competition

Gold Medal - Los Angeles International Wine Competition

"This wine's aromas have it all-flowers, hints of white peaches and Fuji apples, a layer of hardwood richness and even a whiff of tropical fruit, and there is equal joy to come in the youthfully vital, slightly viscous yet always balanced flavors. Like many of its coastal brethren, it has the firm, still developing fruit to improve for a couple of years in the bottle, and this wine is accompanied by the added pleasure of an invitingly low price for what it offers. " Two Puffs and 92 Points Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, January 2008

"Light at first, neither sweet nor oily, this viognier brightens to fresh, lasting lemon and peach flavors as it develops with air. Decant it to serve with seared scallops." 92 Points, Wine & Spirits Magazine, August 2007.

"Zaca Mesa has been making Rhone varietals for nearly 30 years, and that experience shows in this wine made from grapes sustainably grown on the winery's 750-acres estate vineyard. While you smell some toast in the aroma from three months in neutral oak barrels, on the palate it's all golden apple and Asian pear fruit with a few floral notes. It's 14.5 alcohol, but you'd never guess that from the flavor." TWO STARS, San Francisco Chronicle, May 11, 2007.

"Another vintage, another stellar viognier (2006) from Zaca Mesa. This edition has pear, dried apricot, peach, and nectarine flavors that are up front and delicious, along with a tangy mid-palate and a fine finish." Santa Barbara News-Press, May 10, 2007.