2020 Alban Viognier Estate
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The 2020 Viognier Estate is a step up and offers a gorgeous bouquet of tangerines, exotic citrus, chalky minerality, and white flowers. More medium to full-bodied, wonderfully textured, and perfectly balanced, I don't think there's anyone in the New World doing Viognier better than John Alban. While I know this can evolve and age, I recommend drinking bottles over the coming 3-5 years. It’s clear that Alban has another truly special vintage on their hands with these 2018s, and these might be the finest wines I’ve tasted from this estate. Reminding me slightly of the 2016s, these aren’t massive, over-the-top wines, and they excel every bit as much for their purity, balance, and elegance as they do for their richness and texture. The 2019s also showed well, and those will be reviewed from bottle next year. As I hope these reviews show, I don’t think anyone is doing Rhône varieties better.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Bright, green-tinged gold. Intense, sharply delineated aromas of fresh pear, nectarine, candied orange, ginger and pungent flowers, along with a smoky mineral topnote. Utterly stains the palate with vibrant orchard and pit fruit, citrus pith and honeysuckle flavors that show superb definition and deepen with air while maintaining vivacity. The mineral and floral qualities drive a strikingly long, sharply focused finish that leaves behind tangy orange zest, dusty mineral and floral notes.