That not-too-sweet spot requires a little searching among white wines

I was at the SLGA the other day and ended up talking to a reader who was feeling unloved by white wines. She found gewurz and Riesling too sweet. She found many of the blends both too sweet and too thick, “Syrupy!” was her word. But her old standby, Pinot Grigio, gave her the blahs.

My guess is that she, like many others, finds the aromatics in wines like gewurz and Riesling overpowering. I steered her toward a Pinot Blanc, which I figured she would find interesting, and a Canadian sauvignon blanc, which tend to be more delicate than New Zealand style.

I rather like aromatics myself, and had she not instantly rejected my suggestion, I would have nudged her towards Viognier. This is a grape that is immensely popular among wine growers and drinkers who have been exposed to the wines of southern France. It’s a bit thicker, more toward the syrupy side of life than a lean Pinot Grigio. I have occasionally been able to coax red zealots to try a bottle with fish to (grudging) approval. The wine is also hard to say — official French pronunciation is VEE-ahn-yay if you’re curious but vee-OG-ner works with more than a few folks loading shelves.

Regardless of the reason — weight, aromatics, or pronunciation — this is a wine that struggles for love among regular folks. I actually think it hits the perfect middle note between acidity, roundness and aromatics. It is subtle enough to not be intrusive, but still offers all of those sterling characteristics.

There are, alas, only three pure Viognier here. I’m not a purist, by the way. In the Rhone they blend it with marsanne and roussanne, and more power to them. The particular three here give the drinker an opportunity to dial in and out the flavour set as they wish by the simple expedient of price.

Essentially, less expensive wines are less concentrated. In the old days this was to allow for aging, but in modern times, I have a distinct suspicion it is to cater to senior tastebuds. Reason aside, the point is if you find a particular wine over powering, before you completely abandon the grape like my reader above, start buying the cheapest versions of the varietal and see if they work for you. They may not, but they just might help folks with more discerning tastebuds.

Cono Sur, for example, is a very lightly extracted Viognier. A connoisseur would call it watery, but it is still a very pleasant wine. The biggest thing dialed back on this wine is the herbaceous astringency, the mid-palate and finish of a “good” (i.e. Californian) Viognier. It still has that pleasant peachy nose with an underlying mineral (usually described as wet stone). The acidity is present and accounted for, but not aggressive, and the finish just a bit thicker than a Pinot Grigio or sauvignon blanc.

Smoking Loon is an interesting label. They price low enough that you will occasionally run into some inconsistency but in general they aim at a sophisticated palate with a thin wallet. The bouquet is stronger with a little more of that lime flower, crushed foliage smell about it, with less of the mineral. The palate is much more like a bigger wine with a strong herbaceous finish. If you’ve never been exposed to such a wine, this is a must-try at this price, but I am unsure how many readers will shriek “Eureka!” after drinking. Certainly, some of us do.

Finally, there is the Sandhill Small Lots Viognier. This is a tiny production that somehow finds a way here. (Howard Soon, one of Canada’s smartest winemakers, lived in Saskatoon for a while. If this is payback for Saskatewan kindness, I’ll gladly take the harvest.) His Small Lots program is one to notice.

It is a much subtler wine than Smoking Loon, with the herbaceousness restrained but present. The bouquet is also much quieter, with the mineral barely whispering to you. It has a slightly peachy nose, a tremendously balanced palate with a finish that is pure, slightly astringent and lingering. If ever there was a wine to savour, it is this one.

I could probably make my reader a convert with this one but not everybody wants to learn a varietal’s characteristics by tossing $30 on the table. On the other hand, if you like fine wine, this is one of the finest you’ll find.