The South Beach Wine Club
We Know How To Party!

We aren’t just another wine club - we provide our club members with everyday wines along with a daily blog full of great wine information. Our articles are full of wine news, pairing suggestions, restaurant reviews, and party tips designed to help wine buyers ranging from complete novices to experienced drinkers looking for the next best bottle. Sure, we want you to purchase a membership to The South Beach Wine Club, but we also want you to stop by every day to see what's on our minds. And once you're here, we hope you comment on what you read.

The club is designed for those who like to enjoy wine every day and those who know that wine helps make a party great - no matter what size! But who has time to make that extra trip after work to the wine store, trolling through endless bottles of wine? You should spend your time enjoying the wine, so we pick great bottles at great prices for you. No more guess work!

We keep it simple - 3 different tiers: 2, 4 or 6 bottles per month.

The price is listed in the total price - no hidden shipping costs at check out.

Customize your shipment to be all reds, all whites, or a mix - because you never know.

Perfect gift for those busy friends who always like to have a bottle of wine around.

Regularly updated blog to provide you with helpful party tips, wine suggestions, and pairing ideas.

South Beach Wine Club Daily Blog:

Viognier is a great alternative to over-oaked Chardonnay

Author: Randy  //  Category: Party Wine, Wine Stories, Wine Tips

 

While vacationing with Laurie’s family in the Bahamas, seafood has been a staple on the dinner table. Grouper, salmon, lobster, and conch have all made regular appearances. On islands like these, where almost everything is imported, the wine prices are outrageous – especially for those bottles with recognizable producer names and varietals. One bottle that I have been recommending (with great success) is Viognier. “Exotic” seems to be the word everyone is using to describe this wine. And not for nothing, but it’s looking like this varietal is going to help the family branch out from their regular white: Chardonnay.

Ranging from pale straw to light golden, Viognier’s exotic profile starts with the heady aromatics – honeysuckle, apricot, orange, and spice. The perfumed aroma is not just a tease, as it leads into generous gobs of melon, apricot, and peach on the palate. With its big fruit and relatively low acidity, Viognier pleases most fans of big, buttery, tropical California Chardonnay. Not unlike Gewurztraminer, Viognier tends to be fleshy and viscous in body. And even though it’s shy in the acidity department, the strength of its fruit helps the flavors linger.

viognier producer examples

Viognier is native to France’s Rhone Valley, where it is the only grape grown in the tiny appellation of Condrieu. Examples from Condrieu tend to be extremely expensive. Fortunately, however, Viognier is an ancient grape enjoying a growing modern escape from obscurity, thanks to plantings in the South of France, California, and Australia. As new vineyards start to bear fruit, prices should drop and more bottlings will appear each vintage.

Viognier is not especially crisp, but still quite nice when paired with simple chicken dishes, pasta with a creamy sauce, heftier fish (like salmon and Chilean sea bass), lobster, and even pork and ham. For those who just like the wine’s generous fruit-basket of flavors and aromas, Viognier is a great sipping wine to enjoy simply by itself.

If you are interested in trying a bottle or two of Viognier, you should be able to find it at your local wine shop. You may even find that producers are blending it with other white wines – sometimes even red wine too! But before we get ahead of ourselves, allow me to suggest some producers you may be able to find in your area. These bottles show good characteristic of Viognier, but won’t break the bank:

  • Bridgman Viognier Yakima Valley
  • Sobon Estate Viognier Amador County
  • Bonterra Vineyards Viognier Mendocino North Coast