Viognier: Back From the Brink of Extinction

The Search for the World’s Best White Wine

When one becomes involved in a debate over the world’s greatest wine (as I often do), the perennial contenders tend to have a large amount of anthocyanins. Maybe DRC’s aptly named Romanee-Conti really is heaven on earth, but then again maybe Chateau Ausone is better than heaven, something yet unknown to our imaginations, like a floating mountain range on a far away moon. Too often the world’s great white wines are overshadowed by their more colorful cousins.

In search of the world’s greatest white wine, we set out to play chess. Accompanying our battles was a bottle of 2007 Guigal Condrieu. As far as regions go, Condrieu is certainly on the pricey side of white wine; these Northern Rhone Viogniers are as delicious as they are rare, and Guigal has been known to make some tasty juice from the area (see the La La La’s). This wine was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and it’s the perfect chess pairing wine — the thinking man’s Viognier. All this talk made me wonder though, what is the world’s best white wine?

A quick glance at the Wine Spectator’s top 100 shows an unsurprising trend: in 2009, nine of the top ten wines were reds. Coming in ninth, however, is none other than a Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Merry Edwards. Actually the top scoring white wine of the year indeed hails from the Northern Rhone, only slightly south and across the river from Condrieu in Hermitage (where the white grapes are Marsanne and Roussanne).

Price equals quality in many industries, but wine is tricky. Perhaps Haut Brion Blanc should be in the mix; with a retail price of about $650 it likely is pretty stellar, or at least it had better be. Chardonnays from Montrachet can also fetch a pretty penny, upwards of $400. Trockenbeerenausleses can easily cost $200 for 375 ml – that’s over $15 per ounce, but honestly, I’d pay $15 for an ounce of TBA. Chateau d’Yquem is rumored to be decent, too.

Unfortunately the blog’s budget is not yet sufficient to blind test the aforementioned wines to determine once and for all what the world’s best white wine is. Prior to Nathaniel penetrating my defenses and taking out my knight with a lowly pawn, the Guigal Condrieu was pretty killer. I now know what Viognier is capable of, and I am dying to find an equally compelling domestic version. This might be the best Viognier in the world, but is this the best white wine in the world? On this particular night, it is.