Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Halos de Jupiter Viognier, 2024 — Pays du Gard IGP, France 🇫🇷

Overview
100% Viognier showing a fresher, lighter Southern France expression. Generous stone-fruit aromatics with bright citrus lift and floral nuance, delivering charm and approachability rather than the typical heavy, oily, bomb-style Viognier profile.

Aromas & Flavors
Apricot, ripe peach, nectarine, tangerine zest, orange blossom, yellow flowers, subtle honeysuckle.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied but lively. Clean, refreshing acidity with a gentle roundness and soft texture. Uplifting and easygoing with a crisp, fruit-driven finish.

Food Pairings
Grilled shrimp, lemon chicken, Moroccan spices, goat cheese salads, sushi rolls, light creamy pastas.

Verdict
A bright, casual Viognier that keeps the varietal’s charm while skipping the heaviness. Aromatic, cheerful, and dangerously drinkable — perfect for relaxed evenings or sunny afternoons.

🍷 Personal Pick
I love this style: all the apricot-peach personality without the weight. Fresh, floral, and uplifting, a “pour another glass” kind of white.

Did You Know?
Viognier from cooler or coastal Mediterranean zones like the Gard often shows higher acidity and lighter texture compared to the richer, oilier styles from Condrieu. — 3 months ago

David Stein

9.4

Amazing. Even with skipping the bacon it was drinking very well. — 4 years ago

with Bruce

David S

9.0

Great complex juicy wine. Summery. LJ: “skipping kid trips on asphalt, skins knee, spills raspberry sorbet — 6 years ago

Elizabeth Vecseri

9.0

Quite tart and smooth. Not as heavy as a usual Chardonnay, almost like it’s skipping (happy). Very lemony and bright. A hint of peppery spice at the end. Definitely not oaky. — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve sort of avoided the wines from Priorat. Not for any ideological reasons, more so I simply found the wines too often over the top for my palate. However, after years of skipping offers, I bit the bullet a couple years ago and swooped up a couple bottles of Laurel which is a wine made by Clos i Terrasses (most famously known for Clos Erasmus). I’m so glad I did. What I discovered was a wine of tremendous character and beauty.

The 2019 version of this wine is no different. It pours an almost magenta red ruby with a translucent core and moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, raspberries, plums, purple flowers, dried herbs, organic soil, limestone. There’s abundant fruit but it comes across super fresh, not jammy. There is also the faintest whiff of pyrazines. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium bodied and confirming the complex fruit set and non-fruit characteristics. Medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Such a fresh, youthful and gorgeous wine. For those that are wondering, Laurel is aged in a combination of neutral oak, concrete egg and amphora. — 4 years ago

Cindy Glennon

9.5

Great summertime light white from Greenvale Vineyard, Newport, RI. Definitely will buy again. — 5 years ago

Jason Muniz

9.2

Good wine without skipping school — 3 years ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland

9.4

See previous notes from about a year ago. Enjoying this visually bright light straw bail color. Chardonnay from Burgundy. Taste is an oily chalky feel on the palate. Peach, lemon-lime and apple are dominant fruits with a mineral dry coconut med dry finish finish. Yummy! Enjoying on a beautiful silhouette night in Napa. — 3 years ago

with Leslie, Karin and 1 other

Christian Fischer

9.0

Nice fruity and refreshing. Citrusy. With friends and colleagues, just the boss is skipping it ;) — 5 years ago

Norman

9.8

Seriously this good once it opens up. I had a Father’s Day cocktail bar the restaurant but had to bail on it after tasting this. — 5 years ago

with Nicholas