Seduction by the Sip

Falling for VA viogners, Italian sparklers

By Warren Rojas

2007 G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso (Courtesy of G.d. Vajra)

When it comes to wine critiquing, our Wine Pros occasionally run hot and cold. Or in this case, foreign red and domestic white.

Unnerved by the prospect of slurping a robust red mid-summer, Jake Parrott touts the biodynamically produced 2007 G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso ($17) as “taut and nervy” but also “lip-smackingly good.” He enjoys the “dark red fruit” and “firm-but-ripe acidity that demands a second sip,” ultimately pairing the Piemontese pour with vermouth-spiked lamb chops.

Parrott is equally passionate about the NV Casa Coste Piane Prosecco de Valdobbiadene ($25), extolling the complex bubbly—which starts out “lemony and fresh, but with air and a second sip, turns creamy, a tiny bit waxy and incomparably deep”—as commitment-worthy. “I could swear off most any Champagne for this wine and be very happy,” he proposes.

Kelly Magyarics, meanwhile, finds herself swooning for other reasons. “I believe viognier is one of the best wines produced in Virginia, with a good blend of Old World restraint similar to Condrieu … [and] a smattering of fruit forwardness like the California bottling[s],” she says of the nose-filling varietal. She highlights the “honey on the palate” and “vibrant acidity” expressed by the 2007 DelFosse Viognier Reserve ($25) as natural foils for “decadent seafood dishes like lobster or crab,” while trumpeting the honeysuckle notes and “subtle hint of vanilla (and a little bit of spicy ginger)” captured by the 2007 Domaine du Chene Condrieu ($57). “It has a definite tropical feel to it,” she says of the classically French stunner.

(July 2010)