d'Arenberg 2008 Adelaide Viognier 72% Marsanne 28% "The Hermit Crab"

The color of mass-market American lager, a little petillance is visible.

Peach/floral smell, pear, melon.

Fresh tart peach flavor, not-quite-ripe melon, alcohol warmth, oily mouth-feel, salt-water in the finish, some petillance tingling on the tongue.

Pleasant, if imperfectly so, bottle for $15.50. I remember when Viognier was rare, expensive, and almost always quite good. There's a certain perverse satisfaction in seeing it common, sometimes fairly cheap and occasionally rather ordinary, as long as the good can still be had.

Some bottles may not assert Adelaide,