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Sept Saisons Viognier 2010 Pays d'Oc is made by star winemaker Edouard Labeye, from the vineyards around Rieux Minervois in the Languedoc. This cool microclimate gives a wine with fresh citrus acidity to balance the floral, peachy flavours of the Viognier grape. Edouard Labeye also consults in the Rhone Valley and in Radford Dale, South Africa.
The Viognier grape has an ancient history in the Rhone and the south of France. Some have hypothesised that it may have originated in Dalmatia and was brought to the Rhône by the Romans. One legend tells that the Roman emperor Probus brought the vine to the region in 281 AD. Another legend has it that the grape was packaged with Syrah on a cargo ship navigating the Rhone River, en route to Beaujolais, when the ship was captured near the site of present day Condrieu (which many believe to be its spiritual home) by a local group of outlaws known as culs de piaux.
From Condrieu, Viognier has spread throughout the world, giving rich, oily wines, but nowhere does it attain such a blend of finesse and weight as it does in the south of France and Rhone Valley.
