V for victory all round for Yalumba;
When it comes to viognier, no one in Australia does it better or more comprehensively than Yalumba. Bold statement but true. Consider this: in its line-up there’s the premium viognier known as The Virgilius, aged in oak and made from select parcels of fruit, followed by the excellent Eden Valley viognier that’s much more than a crowd-pleaser, it’s a wine that grabs attention and awards galore. Then there’s the more commercial Y series (at $12 who cares?) made from fruit sourced mainly from South Australian vineyards. Not content with those table wines, so why not add dessert styles of this Rhone white, too, such as a late-harvest or botrytised-style viognier depending on vintage? You’d think that’s all the viognier dallying that can be done. But no. What else can Yalumba do? Well, an eau de vie, of course. Literally meaning water of life, Yalumba’s distilled spirit called V de Vie is incredibly smooth, floral and spicy, a perfect digestive. Only 300 bottles were made and mainly for high-end restaurants (ex-cellar door $60). Chief winemaker and viognier-obsessive Louisa Rose says one of the niceties associated with many European wineries is having a digestive. The Age, February 16.
