2010 Reserve Late Harvest Viognier
2010 graced us with ideal viticultural conditions for the late harvest Viognier, including plenty of Botrytis on the clusters. The result? An opulent, honey colored wine that recalls the beauty of late autumn in every glass.
Rare Sauterne style late harvest Viognier. Rich flavors of raw honey, ripe peach, honey dew melon. Decadent finish of toasted almonds.
This extremely rare vintage can only be crafted under unique and distinctive climate conditions at the end of harvest. The result is a luxurious Sauternes style late harvest wine with rich flavors of raw honey, ripe peach, honey dew melon, and has a decadent finish of toasted almonds. This wine would pair exceptionally well with Bananas Foster, Cheesecake or Creme Brûlée.
This reserve estate wine was harvested from our SIP certified vineyard. Winemakers Kevin Riley and Jim Shumate used only Viognier grapes affected by botrytis, rendering a dessert wine which reflects the elegance of famous Sauternes and Tokaji sweet wines while displaying a style that is distinctly Californian.
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2010 |
| Varietal | Viognier |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Viognier |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Pomar Junction Vineyard |
| Designation | Reserve |
| Sugar | 35 Brix |
| Acid | 6.5 g/L |
| PH | 4.40 |
| Aging | 20 Months Neutral Oak |
| Residual Sugar | 19.4% |
| Alcohol | 13.30% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
Made entirely from hand-picked, estate-grown grapes this Late Harvest Viognier hails from the hillsides of our vineyard with limestone shale rock soils. The cooling Templeton Gap breezes moderate summer temperatures and combine with our Linne Calado soils for ideal growing conditions.
Jim Shumate, Winemaker
A native of Southern California, Jim's first wine job was working in the barrel room at Meridian Vineyards, where his budding career was greatly influenced by legendary winemaker Chuck Ortman. After several vintages with Meridian as Senior Lab Technician and Senior Barrel Technician, Jim moved on to become Cellar Master and Consulting Winemaker at Templeton Wine Services (where he first met Pomar Junction CEO, Dana Merrill). From 1999 to 2008, this full-service processing facility afforded Jim the opportunity to work with a wide range of varietals, styles and volumes – from small, high-end lots to several-thousand-case productions.
While making wine for Templeton Wine Services, Jim was also busy working toward a degree in Enology at Cal Poly University. His involvement at Cal Poly eventually led to an invitation to develop and manage the Cal Poly pilot winery which opened in 2008. As Cellar Master, Winemaker, and Lecturer for the new campus winery, Jim instructed students on procedural operations of all winery equipment, demonstration of lab analysis and interpretation of results. Additionally, Jim co-taught advanced enology classes, operated and repaired all winemaking equipment, and established a new bottling line for the campus winery. After several vintages of hands-on teaching from fruit to bottling, Jim took the position of Winemaker at Pomar Junction in July 2011.
He lives in Paso Robles with his wife and children.
