The 2002 Viognier Unfiltered offers good elegance along with a hint of stony minerality intermixed with this varietal’s fruit cocktail-like aspects. Medium-bodied and relatively delineated for Viognier, it should be drunk over the next 12-24 months. Tel. (707) 963-9000; Fax (707) 963-5408

The simple, straightforward 2002 Viognier Napa reveals hints of lychee nuts and apricots. Tel. (707) 963-9000; Fax (707) 963-5408

I am not a fan of most California Viogniers, but the 1997 Viognier Unfiltered (only 150 cases) is a flamboyant, intensely rich, opulently-styled example that will make believers out of skeptics. However, I would opt for consuming it over the next year to take advantage of its ostentatious aromatics.All of the Newton wines are fermented with natural yeasts in order to obtain more complex aromatics. The malolactic fermentations take place in barrel to promote greater integration of wood, and to encourage more textural richness in the wines. All of the wines, including the Chardonnay, are bottled without filtration.Tel. (707) 963-9000; Fax (707) 963-5408