La Playa Estate Viognier 2020
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Wilfred
Wong
Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
La Playa Estate Viognier is a rich yellow color. On the nose, jasmine flower and peach. The palate has a good balance between freshness and a long fruity finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 La Playa Estate Series Viognier is an easy and enjoyable white wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits fragrant, lightly floral, and tart apple aromas and flavors. Try it with California roll and unagi. (Tasted: May 3, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
In 1952, patriarch Søren Axelsen left his native Copenhagen to travel the world. Eventually, he settled in California to grow his own grapes. But he never forgot the remarkable growing regions he had seen in Chile, in particular Colchagua Valley, which showed such great potential to produce world-class wines.
By 1989, he had realized his dream, founding Viña La Playa alongside his sons Peter and Eric. Viña La Playa of Chile is a partnership between the Axelsens and two promient Chilean winemaking legends: the Sutil and Errázuriz families. The winery encompasses 597 acres of prime property in the Colchagua Valley, where its vineyards enjoy a unique microclimate that fosters the growth of premium wine grapes.
With near-perfect growing conditions, Colchagua Valley has been described as "The Next Napa" (Wine Enthusiast, March 2002) as "arguably Chile's premier opportunity for world-class wine production" (Wine Spectator, April 30, 2002), and as "2005 Wine Region of the Year," yeilding "some of the most compelling wines in the world" (Wine Enthusiast, 2005).
La Playa Wines stands as a beacon of sustainability, with a steadfast commitment to eco-friendly practices from vineyard to bottle. The vineyards nurturing our grapes are meticulously tended without the use of chemicals or pesticides, fostering a natural balance in the ecosystem. Water-saving irrigation techniques are employed, ensuring responsible usage of this precious resource. Only native yeast strains are utilized, eschewing genetically modified organisms for a more authentic and pure winemaking process. As a proud member of "1% for the Planet," La Playa Wines continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental advocacy by donating a portion of its sales to organizations dedicated to preserving our planet's natural beauty and resources.
Full-figured and charmingly floral, Viognier is one of the most important white grapes of the northern Rhône where it is used both to produce single varietal wines and as an important blending grape. Look for great New World examples from California, Oregon, Washington and cooler parts of Australia. Somm Secret—Viognier plays a surprisingly important role in the red wines of Côte Rôtie in the northern Rhône. About 5% Viognier is typically co-fermented with the Syrah in order to stabilize the color, and as an added benefit, add a subtle perfume.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.