Tasting Note: I have tasted this twice, quizzically at first at the vineyard, and wanting a second shot at it which I did at home weeks later.  Part of the reason is a nose that is a bit more reserved and the style a bit leaner than viognier usually displays, if not all that uncommon for Niagara. But the texture and finish are cracker within the leaner frame. It think the wild ferment then long ageing in neutral oak has subdued the fruit somewhat aromatically but aeration shows classic peach/apricot, star anise, orange citrus, linden florality and vague nutmeg spice.  It is light to medium bodied at only 12.5% abv with a seam of lemony acidity, but the long wood contact has built some buff. On the palate the flavours seem to explode carrying to excellent length, being joined by some lemon on the finish.

Backgrounder – Kelly Mason has become a benchmark winemaker in Niagara, plying her craft at Honsberger and The Farm, and for several years now at Domaine Queylus. But all the while she was building her Mason Vineyard project, having purchased an ideal, mature Twenty Mile Bench site. Her estate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc are in high demand. But every vintage she does a one-off collaboration with another Niagara winemaker, in this case Brooke Husband, the Assistant Winemaker at Domaine Queylus. The viognier fruit was purchased from the excellent Grimsby Hillside Vineyard where the Lincoln Lakeshore appellation narrows between the Lake and Escarpment.  This site is delivering some of the most elegant wines of Niagara. Mason always does a good job describing winemaking so I simply quote her.  “As always, we just love the smell of wild ferment viognier! Our tonnage was low so we proceeded with a straightforward wild ferment in tank with a few whole clusters to kick start the fermentation. Once primary and malolactic were complete we used only neutral barrels for ageing – about 16 months. The fermentation on this grape is always slow and we watch it closely”