2012 Eric Texier Opâle

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 85 points

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  6/27/2021 - Neecies Likes this wine:

  Tim's. A Condrieu Viognier not labeled as such, as the appellation laws won't allow a partially fermented, sweet Viognier labeled as Condrieu. And at 70 g/l residual sugar, this is definitely sweet. Served blind in a Southern France tasting, my first question was "Is it a Spatlese?" Apparently, that was somewhat Eric's intention, to pay homage to German wines. Intriguingly sweet-sour with notes of grass and limeade but best as a dessert wine or aperitif.

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  3/10/2015 - forceberry wrote: 85 Points

  A Condrieu Viognier not labeled as such, as the appellation laws won't allow a partially fermented, sweet Viognier labeled as Condrieu. And at 70 g/l residual sugar, this is definitely sweet.
  
  Pale lime green color. Very weirdly grassy nose with quite green-toned aromas of sappy herbal character, reductive rubber, some chlorophyll and a hint of apple peel. The wine is sweet, yet remarkably light-bodied, crisp and racy on the palate with weird, waxy flavors of sweet golden apples and apple jam, rubber balloon, cucumber, some stony minerality, a little bit of beeswax and a hint of sappy herbal greenness. The high acidity offsets most of the residual sugar sweetness remarkably well. The finish is is yet sweet with crisp, acid-driven flavors of ripe golden apples, some rubbery reduction, a little bit of sappy herbal character and a hint of grassy greenness.
  
  I'm not entirely sure if I "got" this wine. It's nice in its own right, being so light and racy despite its noticeable sweetness, but overall the wine seems to suffer quite a bit from reduction, smelling and tasting at times more like a rubber air balloon than anything vinous. Perhaps the wine will develop in a cellar and drop its reductive character over the years, but for current enjoyment the wine seems just too, well, rubbery. Might be worth its price at 16,50€, but the wine needs to come together first. It feels like the wine would warrant a higher rating if it continues to develop, but my score reflects how the wine is now, not how it will turn out in the future.

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