The 2009 FSW 8B Botrytis Viognier gives intense, musky, honey drizzled dried apricot and marmalade notes with some candied peel and a whiff of peach blossom. Very sweet (161 grams per liter of residual sugar), crisp and viscous in the mouth, this rich ‘sticky’ finishes with lingering notes of pure apricot. Drink it now to 2014. Remaining one of Australia’s oldest, largest and most prestigious family owned companies, Yalumba’s top wines should not be overlooked amongst the limelight-hogging young-gun wines that have sprung-up around the Barossa in the last 20 years. Some of the region’s finest vineyards are owned or contracted by this company. They’ve also contributed considerably to the quality of vine material available throughout the region with the impressive developments at the Yalumba nursery. Regarding the current releases, The Signature and Octavius won’t be released in 2007. I was informed that in 2008 all their reds were picked before the first week of March but there were no single site wines made in 2008 because it was felt the fruit wasn’t expressing the sites. 2009 was a good year and everything will be released, though winemaker Louisa Rose confessed that their early maturing Shiraz suffered the most in the 2009 heat spike.Importer: Negociants USA, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 259-0993

Yalumba’s mastery of Viognier extends even to this botrytis-affected dessert style, which offers scents and flavors of honey, dried apricots and orange marmalade. It’s not overly complex, but wonderfully concentrated yet balanced, with a long, honeyed finish. Drink it over the next few years. ——J.C.(5/1/2011)—— 92