No Viognier today

It's been hot this weekend. Extra hot for these parts, and especially so just north of here in Sonoma where we spent the day yesterday. Now before you start conjuring images of us sipping wine in a faux chateau surrounded by picturesque vineyards, I feel compelled to admit we were actually at The Infineon Raceway. And not only that, but we were watching drifting, the relatively new offshoot of auto racing popularized by the summer flick Tokyo Drift. I will spare you the details as presumably you didn't start perusing this post to read about corndogs and Budweiser. (No promises on those subjects being off limits in the future though; both are awfully delicious.)

Anyway, despite the dusty, noisy surroundings, I was still thinking about drinking a crisp, citrusy Viognier. I guess mere proximity to grapes can do it. Or maybe the 115 degree heat did it. Whatever it was, I had a notion to order some wine today from our friends Jen and Chris Stark who make a lovely Syrah and a stellar Viognier. Imagine my disappointment in seeing that their fantastic Viognier is sold out just now that I had my heart set on it. Of course, the Syrah is super too and generally I do prefer red. If you like trying new wines and supporting small operations, I recommend keeping an eye on these guys. They're always trying new blends and everything they've made to date has been right nice.