A Viognier vin de paille

Now Viognier, the grape that is made into Condrieu in the Rhone Valley, is not a grape that is normally associated with sweet wines. However, it does make very fruity wines that seems sweet (actually a reflection of its fruity nose and palate) whilst sugar measurements are low (meaning that it really is a dry wine with little sugar in it). However, I seem to have met more than my fair share of sweet Viogniers. I had already blogged about a botrytised example from Australia as well as a late harvest example from Gaillard in the Rhone. This is another twist - a vin de paille made from Viognier from the Ardeche. Golden orange with a sweet apricot nose which was a touch spirity, the palate was sweet rich and crammed full of apricot notes, albeit with a touch of alcohol heat on swallowing. This alcohol heat persisted into the acid backbone, which was somewhat disappointing for a wine with only 14% alcohol.