Zaca Mesa Winery

After a period of winemaker musical chairs at Zaca Mesa a few years ago, veteran Central Coast winemaker, Clay Brock (formerly at Edna Valley Vineyards) took the reins at the winery, quickly sized up the potential, encouraged the ongoing replanting of the estate vineyards and, last but not least, began crafting delicious user-friendly Rhone style wines.

The Zaca Mesa Viognier is consistently one of the best of its type in the state, but let’s keep that as our little secret, eh? The 2005 version is pale straw in color, with aromatics that include florals, like orange blossom, white gardenia and honeysuckle, mixed with fruit aromatics like white peach, Asian pear, lychee nut, Mandarin orange and quince. I could go on but seriously the nose on this thing makes it seem like an exotic perfume; hey, dab a little behind your ears before you go out and I think you’ll certainly get noticed.

On the palate, it’s probably softer and more honeyed than last year, but also more mouth filling. Flavors of ripe nectarine and peach skins, along with dried apricots and lychee nut, are in the mix, as well as minute bits of other fruits and florals that are well integrated into a complex whole. The ripeness level gives the impression of sweetness but the finish is crisp and dry. Every year I tell the folks at Zaca Mesa they need to raise the price of this wine; it’s certainly comparable to a $25 or $30 Viognier. Fortunately, they never listen to me.

Reviewed October 11, 2006 by Dennis Schaefer.