£8.75, Oddbins
I love the heady blossom and peach aromas of this organic white and its peaches-and-cream flavour and soft citrus-zest freshness, but Viognier isn’t always one of my favourite grapes. It can be a bit like the nursery rhyme: when it’s good, it’s very, very good, and when it’s bad it’s horrid. In the wrong place it turns from aromatic beauty to flabby plodder almost overnight. What Viognier likes, and gets in the cooler parts of Chile’s Central Valley, is a good drop in temperature at night, so that the grapes take their time to ripen and develop flavour while retaining refreshing acidity. The Natura Viognier is an ideal aperitif, but try it with seafood, such as scallops with sweetcorn purée, or fish in a cream sauce or chicken with sweetcorn or courgette fritters. And if you want a red wine to follow it, try the Natura Carmenère (same price). Pub quiz fact: Emiliana is the biggest producer of organic wines not just in Chile, not just in South America but in the world.
Emiliana Natura Viognier 2015, Valle Central, Chile
£8.75, Oddbins