Laurent Miquel Viognier

Laurent and Neasa Miquel had great success at the London Wine Trade Fair this year with Laurent Miquel’s Viognier Nord-Sud 2007 awarded the 2009 Viognier trophy at the Top 100 tasting.

But hey, that was London, what about us in Ireland?

Well to celebrate, there’s a prize of a magnum (a double bottle) of delicious Viognier. Just pop a comment below. Competition closes 10th June.

What’s Viognier?

The white Viognier grape prefers warmer environments and a long growing season, but can grow in cooler areas as well.

In France, it’s the single grape permitted the appellations of Condrieu. In the Rhone wine region, the grape is often blended with Roussanne and Marsanne. You’ll sometimes see this on Australian bottles as “VMR”.

In the Côte-Rôtie, northern Rhone, it’s blended with Syrah, a red grape, giving a lush smooth sheen to the wine.

Viognier with food

The highly aromatic and fruit forward nature of the grape allows Viognier to pair well with spicy foods such as Thai cuisine

Tasting notes for Laurent Miquel Viognier

  • Sight: Golden with pale green highlights
  • Nose: Floral notes (white flowers) with subtle aromatic fruit>
  • Palate: Opulent and rich palate with fresh peach and apricots and a hint of nuttiness

What others are saying about the Laurent Miquel Viogner Nord Sud

“I am particularly taken by this, their superior Viognier bottling…. Drink it over the next few months to benefit from its entirely authentic honeysuckle and mayblossom flavours while there is also good freshness and attack there too…. To me, this does taste like baby Condrieu, unlike so many Languedoc Viogniers with their suspiciously ersatz aromas.

The Miquels have 26 ha of Viognier now, all planted within three kilometres of Cazal-Viel, and between five and 14 years old. The name of this bottling comes from the north-south orientation of the vine rows which is designed to protect the grapes from the burning effects of the midday sun. Almost a third of the juice, all free run, is barrel fermented but this is not an obviously oaked wine

I’d serve this wine either as an exotic aperitif or with the sort of zesty salad that does duty as either a first course or a summer lunch. I could imagine it pairing a combination of pear, walnuts and blue cheese rather well.”

Jancis Robinson

“Made by one of the Languedoc’s star winemakers, this subtle spicy lightly oaked Viognier is an outstanding wine.”

Tim Atkin, The Observer

Where you can get it

The Viognier Nord-Sud 2007 is available from Dunnes Stores nationwide and retails at €10.99.