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Wine Review: TH Wines 2018 Viognier

This week I decided to have a little showdown between two very different Viogniers, to see which one to write a review on. One from the cooler Okanagan region in Canada, and one much darker from Argentina.

I love sharing Canadian wines, so I’m stoked that the TH Wines 2018 Viognier was the winner. The other one was…… not good. It wasn’t even a close call. I poured it out. Oh well!

That just meant I got to spend more time with this one, which was an absolute delight.

I actually first had this wine quite a while ago, maybe two years now? A work colleague had picked it up as part of her Okanagan Wine Club shipment, and she knew I was a Viognier fan, so shared it with me.

When I found it again at my local liquor store, I knew I had to include it in my little show down, but I have to squeak ahead for a quick second here.

Typically I do my tasting, I write my review, and then I jump over to the winery website to add in a few other key facts of interest. Unfortunately this time, I learned some bad news.

Sadly, TH wines is no longer producing wine. 2019 was their final vintage.

That means there aren’t many of these bottles left, and no more will be showing up on shelves. So I highly encourage you to snag this bottle if you are lucky enough to find it, and to follow their team on whatever new adventure they embark on (it sounds like they are far from done with their wine journeys!).

TH Wines – Homepage

Alright, on to the tasting!

THE LOOK

The hue was the first thing that struck me when I first poured the TH Wines Viognier beside the Argentinian one.

Whereas the Argentina Viognier was exceptionally dark (well into the amber category), the TH Wines Viognier has a very elegant pale straw look to it.

The comparison emphasized how clear it also is.

My brain went instantly to wondering if this wine had any oak or depth to it at all. I worried that maybe it wouldn’t have enough “oomph” to stand up beside the Argentinian one. Boy, was I wrong.

THE AROMAS

The aromas on the TH Wines Viognier were a beautiful and ever-evolving surprise.

I was first struck by the highs of citrus fruit (lemon, lime), and delicate but pronounced white blossom florals. It was a lovely contrast to the dense aromas I had just whiffed (in retrospect, maybe I should have tasted this one first in the pairings, but lesson learned).

But it only got better from there. As the wine continued to open up over the evening, I started to notice more orchard fruit, particularly pear. And then progressed even further into mango and kiwi. I was truly impressed by the range.

THE PALATE

On the palate, the body retained it’s light refreshing feel. The high acidity kept it feeling crisp and fresh.

I’m also glad it was dry – all those beautiful ripe fruit aromas and flavours did the trick; they didn’t need any help.

The medium alcohol (12.6%) was very smoothly blended in, and overall I found it to be a very well balanced wine.

CONCLUSIONS

The surprising intensity and complexity of the aromas and flavours definitely work in this wine’s favour. And they don’t disappear quickly either – the finish extended for quite some time, which allowed me to really savour the bottle.

(I probably could have inhaled it, but I was really trying to go slow enough to take decent notes here.)

Overall, I’d give it 4 stars out of 5 and say that it is a very good wine. The only reason it’s not a full 5/5 is because I didn’t get that “wow” factor right out of the gate.

There’s a chance I over-chilled it though, which would dull those richer notes that showed up later, so I guess I’ll just have to taste it again 😉

(and now that I know how limited supply is, I’ll probably be grabbing whatever my local liquor store has left.)