It’s TIME to review a Viognier and a White Meritage, Bordeaux, blend from TIME Winery. Both are from the 2018 vintage; the first vintage for TIME Winery by winemaker Lynzee Schatz. These were two of the wines offered for tasting during TIME Winery’s International Women’s Day Celebration. At that time I tried their Evolve Cellars Pink Effervescence and their TIME Winery Syrah 2018, which you can read about here.
Let me tell you about these two white wines.
My Tasting Notes
TIME Viognier 2018 (BC $22.99)
This is a Rhone Valley aromatic white grape that can be on it’s own, or co-fermented with Syrah, or blended with the white Roussanne and Marsanne grapes. This wine is 20% barrel fermented in French oak, aged 5 months sur lie and the remainder fermented in stainless steel tanks.
Appearance: Medium plus intensity bright lemon colour.
Nose: A medium intensity nose that starts out with citrus and lesser amounts of honeyed fruit, peach and apricot, but then with swirling the stone fruit aromas increase plus you get orange and Bergamont tea leaves. With decanting the aromas become primarily orange along with lime, although there is still a reduced amount of stone fruits.
Palate: This wine is dry with a thicker round mouthfeel. More acidity but balanced by the viscosity of this wine. Medium plus intensity flavours of yellow grapefruit and apple, some grape stem, pears, apricot, and touches of oak and pineapple. The flavours really changed after decanting. You now get very ripe, or overripe, orange plus pineapple. The tea leaves, apple and apricot flavours are minimal. The wine still keeps it’s thicker, round character.
Finish: It has a medium length finishing steely, with pears, apricots, and some grape stem. There is also a touch of pepperiness that fades quickly. A very tasty wine that needs a bit of swirling. With decanting the flavours upon finish are mainly orange together with honey, but there still is some of the steeliness, pepperiness, and grape stem.
Overall I prefer the wine first opened and giving it a few swirls before sipping as you get a wider variety of aromas and flavours. As the wine decants for a longer period of time you get riper fruit aromas and flavours, more concentrated on orange, lime and pineapple. I think this wine would go well with many different dishes; some with a bit of spice or some fruits mixed in, grilled seafood, and creamy cheeses.
Rating: 
Did you notice the difference in bottle shapes? The taller bottle shape is used in Bordeaux, for both red and white wines. The shorter bottle is used in the Rhone Valley. Besides being shorter, it also has much more sloped shoulders. The bottle shape from Burgundy is quite similar to the Rhone Valley but the shoulders are not quite as sloped. This can be useful to know when you are buying wines from different regions around the world, as many will tend to follow the bottle shapes that come from the French wine regions.
TIME White Meritage 2018 (BC $25)
A blend of 51% Sauvignon Blanc and 49% Semillon. 40% barrel fermented in French oak and the rest in stainless steel tanks.
Appearance: A medium intensity bright lemon colour with a green tint. Noticeable teardrops upon swirling.
Nose: Medium intensity nose with aromas of lemon, with lesser tangerine orange, gooseberry and some bramble leaf. With decanting the aromas tend much more to peaches and oranges, along with some grape stem.
Palate: Dry and round, very silky with a thicker mouthfeel. Good amount of acidity to keep the wine vibrant. Medium plus intensity flavours of soft lemon and orange, and touches of toasty oak and peach. You still get the silky smoothness and thicker mouthfeel of this wine with decanting. There is still the soft lemon and orange flavours and oak. You start to taste some pears and get some minerality.
Finish: A medium plus length, dry, finishing with citrus, citrus rind, a touch of peach and some pepperiness. About the same flavours and length on the finish with decanting.
I enjoyed this wine undecanted and decanted, but may give the decanted version a slight edge with the peach and orange aromas, and the pears and minerality on the palate. This wine is not as big as the Viognier, and would be better with dishes like pasta in a cream sauce, fish cooked in butter, or chicken in white wine sauce.
Rating:
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
You can buy the TIME Viognier 2018 and the TIME White Meritage 2018 from the TIME Family of Wines website. Please check with your local wine shop to see if these wines are available.