17 Apr Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Wildflower Winery 2022 “A Little Something” Brick Barn Vineyard Santa Ynez
Viognier is a full-bodied white wine that originates from southern France. With floral and fruity aromas, it is a beautiful wine to smell. But often I find Viognier can be rich and oily on the palate and lacking acidity. But when a Viognier is made well, it is an aromatic, elegant, fresh wine, like the Wildflower Winery 2022 “A Little Something” Brick Barn Vineyard Santa Ynez, the Please The Palate wine of the week.
About Wildflower Winery
Wildflower Winery is owned by Natalie Alberston. Originally from Bakersfield, Natalie and her husband lived in San Diego where Natalie was a nurse and then a stay-at-home mom. They began as wine club members at wineries such as Tablas Creek. Her husband’s job in the Navy had them move to Sicily for five years where she fell in love with the culture of food and wine in Italy. She and her husband then focused on traveling and trying different wines and she got her WSET Level 1 certification while living in Italy.
Natalie was always the person on winery tours who asked a lot of questions but being a winemaker was not in her plans. But, she had already made sourdough, kimchee, kombucha, beer, and cheese, so becoming a winemaker was not a surprise. Upon returning to the U.S. in 2020, she enrolled in the UC Davis extension program and made her first wine at the same time.
The first year she made five wines, including Viognier, a wine she fell in love with while traveling through France. She loved the difference one grape, like Viognier, could express when from different places. The first year her Viognier came from the Templeton Gap in Paso Robles, a warmer climate, and was more traditional with yellow peach and honeysuckle aromas. As she is based in Ventura County, she wanted to find a vineyard closer to home and found Brick Barn Vineyard in Santa Ynez. Brick Barn Vineyard is located just outside of Buellton. They do not use any herbicides and farm in line with Natalie’s winemaking ethos.
Tasting Notes
The 2022 “A Little Something” Viognier is named in honor of her husband’s grandmother who was a petite 4’10” woman who would knit scarves for the family each year and say, “it’s a little something”. This “A Little Something” Viognier is just a little something delicious. The sandy soils of the Brick Barn Vineyard and the winds from the ocean influence the finished wine which has minerality, good acidity, and saline notes. The grapes were harvested by hand at night, destemmed and pressed the same day, and fermented with native yeasts. The wine was then aged in stainless steel for 5 months. The resulting wine is only 12% alcohol by volume. The wine is fresh with with notes of white peach, apricot, white tea, and fresh herbs.
Food Pairing
The lightness, acidity, and minerality of this wine makes it perfect to pair with oysters or fresh goat cheese. It was also an ideal pairing with a Mediterranean plate of hummus, baba ganoush, dolmas, tabouli, and falafel.
Where to Purchase
The 2022 “A Little Something” Viognier, Brick Barn Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley retails for $26 and can be purchased directly from Wildflower Winery on their website. Only 111 cases were made.