MacLaren Wine

2020 'Aida' Viognier
Availablity

Out of stock

Price:
$42.00
Availablity

Out of stock

AROMAS & FLAVORS white peach, poached pear, mango, honeysuckle, rose petals
PALATE dry with flavors of apricot, melon, mouthwatering acidity and lingering finish
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS Try this Viognier with Herb-crusted goat cheese salads and Asian noodles with ginger and garlic, especially Pad Thai noodles.
COMPOSITION

100% Viognier, 17 year old vines

PRODUCTION 110 cases
ALCOHOL 12.7%
AGING POTENTIAL Intended to be enjoyed young, drink now through 2024
ACCOLADES

90 points – Wine Enthusiast

VINEYARD Gregori Vineyard
ABOUT THE VINEYARD

Gregori Vineyard is planted in the heart of Green Valley, Russian River. This cooler area of Russian River allows the fruit to maintain a fresh acidity, while the famous Goldridge soil promotes excellent drainage and concentration of fruit.

WINEMAKER NOTES

The vineyard was harvested in early September and was pressed to neutral barrels where the primary fermentation took place over the following 13 days. Malolactic fermentation was inhibited. The wine was aged for 6 months in neutral French oak barrels with regular stirring of the lees, and filtered before bottling. The wine was unfined so may drop light tartrate crystals over its life.

NO TASTING EVENTS AT THIS TIME.

Winemaker

Steve Law

About the Winemaker

A native Scot, Steve Law followed a wine-lover’s path early on. It took him from Paris, where he began a tech career in his 20s, to many important points on France’s wine map, including Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, and Provence. But it was his wine-tasting forays in the northern Rhône Valley, just south of Lyon, that resulted in Steve’s obsession with Syrah—particularly the sought-after wines of Saint-Joseph and Côte-Rôtie.

One of the Rhône’s most highly respected vignerons, Yves Cuilleron, inspired and befriended him, offering valuable advice during his “newbie” winemaker days. Subsequently, Michael Talty in Dry Creek Valley gave Steve his first winery job in 2006, which led to the debut MacLaren Syrah getting vinified in Talty’s cellar in 2007.

When Steve and his wife (and winemaking muse), Heather, bottled that first wine—an ’07 Dry Creek Valley Syrah—they had their fingers crossed for success with this new endeavor while being realistic about its challenges. They were attaching their name (their Scottish clan’s name, anyway) to an artisan wine project they were passionate about, but with an inexact sense of where a Sonoma County wine brand not based on Pinot Noir, Cabernet, or Zinfandel would find acceptance among wine enthusiasts.

A dozen vintages later, access to fruit from such vineyards has enabled MacLaren Wines to create space for itself among California’s best producers of Syrah—along with its white Rhône counterpart, Viognier. Two other varieties, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, round out the current portfolio of wines. But it’s through Steve’s single-vineyard Syrahs that his and Heather’s friends and customers have come to understand the “why” of cool-climate Syrah in Sonoma County.

About the Winery
MacLaren Wine
MacLaren Wine is a boutique winery producing cool-climate wines from extraordinary Sonoma County vineyards. Approachable and elegant, the French inspired wines are food friendly and meant to be shared with friends and family. Scottish native Steve Law leads the winemaking at MacLaren Wine and is one of the best Syrah and Viognier producers in Sonoma.
Learn more

You may also like…