2008 Lambert Bridge Bevill Vineyard Viognier

Sonoma-Grown Northern Rhone Brings It Home

It was hot this weekend.

Walnut Creek, my home and native land (so to speak) sits in the central Contra Costa valleys of the East Bay. It gets hot. The Oakland hills block any cooling effect that would be brought on by proximity to the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, so we sit in this little valley and we cook.

On days like we had this weekend, a crisp, refreshing, acidic white wine—served appropriately chilled—is just what the doctor ordered.

From Dry Creek Valley (which does not suffer from blazing heat like my own Diablo Valley), Lambert Bridge Winery brings this 2008 vineyard-designated viognier.

Lambert Bridge is a winery I’ve written about before, after being impressed by their petite sirah. While this wine may not come off as epic like that one did, it’s still a very refreshing, still nuanced, crisp white that should be high on your list for hot summer days (or even warm summer nights).

The Bevill Vineyard Viognier looks like a lot of other aromatic white wines: it’s almost clear, with a slight golden shimmer in the glass. On the nose are notes I’ve come to expect from viognier: apricot, tropical fruit (like mango and a hint of banana), and this aromatic floral thing that seems very standard in viognier, but I find very hard to pin down to a specific descriptor. “Floral” just ends up being written in my notes. Hopefully it’s descriptive enough.

The 2008 Bevill is a clean, crisp white wine with sharp acid that makes it an excellent food pairing wine (especially with more delicate fare, like seafood or lightly-dressed pasta dishes). However, there’s plenty going on here—more apricot and tropical fruit, like from the nose—to make this wine well worth your while for solo drinking. Like maybe on the back porch on a hot Walnut Creek afternoon.

With white wine like this in the cellar, I fear no 96-degree day. Neither will you.

Verdict: 90/100


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