While shopping for wine on my birthday at Sunfish Cellars here in Saint Paul, one of the guys in the shop recommended I try the Robert Hall Viognier.

For those not familiar, Robert Hall is a winery in Paso Robles, California. Now, I consider this to be part of southern California, technically, it’s central California. Pretty much everything south of Santa Cruz is SoCal to me. Let’s put it this way, what baseball games are on the radio when you are in Paso Robles? It’s not the Giants or the A’s.

But, I digress. Paso Robles has been gaining fame as a wine region over the past decade and a half. No, this is not the Sideways area. It’s close, but have I mentioned I don’t like that movie? It’s kind of a downer…regardless, this area is a bit north of that movie setting.

The nice thing about the Paso Robles wine region is that most of the 200 wineries are small, boutique ones. I prefer small wineries because they feel less intimidating and more personable. I’m in no way a connoisseur and I like to learn about wines. Small wineries just seem more conducive to a good time.

Interesting fact about Robert Hall, he’s from Minnesota. Maybe that’s why I found his wine here?

Robert Hall Viognier: The wine

So, what was this wine like? It’s fruity, a hint of citrus, and a little bit sweet. Tasted like it would go well with cheese. It tasted like summer. It had more heft or depth of flavor than a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. It wasn’t oaky or buttery like a chardonnay. It was somewhere in between those wines.

According to my research, a Viognier is close to a Gewürztraminer. It comes from the Rhone region and was almost extinct, but some folks in California have been helping to make it more popular.

Over the course of the few days that I drank it, I liked it more and more. I kept hearing myself say, “This is good wine!” I will definitely be getting more wine from this winery in the future.