Our Muse

Our Muse is estate grown Viognier. This variety is at first lush and playful. Richness on the palate leads to a sense of enchantment. Lest you be confused, Our Muse is at the same time stiff in the spine and not to be taken whimsically.

Viognier is the traditional white wine from Condrieu in the Northern Rhône Valley of France. This variety develops beautiful and delicate aromatics with a rich unctuous mouth feel when grown in Oregon’s cool Willamette Valley. Among our 35 acres of vineyard, we have planted just 0.41 acres (594 vines to be exact) of Viognier.

The wine was fermented at cool temperatures in a very small stainless steel tank to retain its delicate aromatics. Viognier is a wine that favors enjoyment upon release, much like your inner child.

2019

Glorious Gold Leaf. Meyer lemon zest, starfruit, wildflower honeycomb and anise aromas bloom with tenacity and foretell a depth of flavor and intensity that is inextricably intertwined with a core of scintillating acidity providing welcome restraint.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

2017

​Ornate gold leaf conjures an exotic bouquet of peach marmalade, cinnamon, quince paste, ripe apricot and Stargazer lily aromas rising to a crescendo. It is just amazing they can all fit in a single glass! The palate is remarkably unctuous, concentrated and leaves your senses sizzling like an isotope. The mid palate transitions to a long and vibrant finish with a sustained half life.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

2016

Waxen honeycomb adorns while pungent aromas of quince paste, kumquat zest and Casablanca lily entertain. Inspiring on the palate with a generous mouth feel and intense varietal character, tingling acidity saves the day with a teasing finish. Succulent but not sweet, here’s a wine you would like to meet!

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

​(all stainless steel) Pale green-tinged yellow. Bright and precise on the nose, displaying fresh white peach, tangerine and pungent floral qualities along with delicate honey and white pepper flourishes. Juicy, focused on light on its feet, offering juicy orchard and pit fruit flavors that are given tangy cut by an orange zest nuance. Finishes silky and long, featuring lingering florality and a hint of candied citrus fruits.

- Josh Raynolds, Vinous, February 2018 – 91 points

- Wine Enthusiast, April 2018 – 93 points, Editors' Choice

2015

The fruit for this wine was left to hang through the warm and dry month of October to create a Beerenauslese style late harvest wine. The desiccated and slightly botrytis infected berries were whole cluster pressed. The resulting nectar was settled overnight and fermented in stainless steel. Due to the concentration of sugars, the fermentation was arrested at about 15% alcohol leaving a trace of residual sugar. The wine is bottled in 375 ml bottles and finished with a traditional gold capsule.

Voluminously tropical aromas of star fruit, orchid, white peach, and hibiscus accented with anise permeate. The unctuous and viscous texture embraces the palate with rich and unrelenting island fruit flavors and exotic spices supported by cleansing acidity.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

(375 ml.) Pale yellow-gold. Deep-pitched yellow apple pear nectar honey and nougat aromas lent vivacity by a gingery nuance. Smooth supple and appealingly sweet orchard and pit fruit flavors take a drier turn on the back half picking up a hint of green almond. Lush and weighty but surprisingly firm finishing long and subtly spicy with a lingering hint of orange pith.

- Josh Raynolds, Vinous, January 2017 – 91 points

2014

Platinum blond highlights supple honeysuckle and white peach aromas accented with a zest of lime. Enchanting and mesmerizing aromas lead to an envelopingly rich and persistent palate experience that enlivens with supporting acidity.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

There's never more than a barrel of this outstanding wine to go around, but it's well worth hunting down. Powerful and lush, it's got a silky, voluptuously fruity mouthfeel. Candied citrus and apple pie come to mind, as the flavors continue rushing through, finishing with a spicy lift and a whiff of menthol.

- Paul Gregutt, Wine Enthusiast, August 2016 – 91 points

2013

A quick swirl radiates platinum blond and some very long legs. White lily, Meyer Lemon, quince paste and grated nutmeg start the show. An ample, yet texturally elegant and easygoing mid-palate exposes the culmination of a schizophrenic growing season, our sedimentary soils and a pure expression of Viognier. The transition from hedonistic fruit and texture to lingering acidity is seamless.

Fermented in a 15 gallon “tank,” the 2013 Our Muse Viognier production is 61 bottles and in fact may be the rarest wine in the world.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

2012

Gold leaf filigree adorns the glass. White peach marmalade, quince paste, honeysuckle, Easter Lilly and tangelo zest provide a dizzying array of aromas to organize and are indicative of our North Willamette Valley sedimentary soils. A scintillating and voluptuous mouth feel is commensurate with the aromas that remain swirling in your mind, each struggling for control. The richly textured palate experience is tempered with Asian pear revealing exquisitely integrated acidity and an enduring finish. This is clearly the finest Viognier to be offered from Amalie Robert Estate. 13 case production.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

Minute quantities of these rare Viogniers are produced, which is a shame, because they are distinctive and enlightening. Deep gold and intensely aromatic with brilliant floral notes, this is a beautifully balanced wine, with the acidity and skin flavors to put a crisp frame around the ripe peach and apricot fruit.

- Paul Gregutt, Wine Enthusiast, June 2015 – 93 points

2011

Liquid platinum coats the glass. White nectarine, calla lily, kumquat zest and Russian tarragon express the scintillating aromatics of a cool growing season. Voluptuous and expansive on the pallet with lively impressions of tangerine, Myer lemon and tart cherry pulp puree. The lingering finish is punctuated with fennel frond and cleansing acidity. 34 cases produced.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

Not picked until mid-November, the Amalie Robert 2011 Viognier Our Muse delivers a heady, at once musky and sweetly perfumed nose of acacia, lily and narcissus, along with intimations of honeydew melon and apple that then share billing with inner-mouth floral perfume on a silken and (at just 12.4% alcohol no wonder!) buoyant palate. A lovely streak of salinity lends saliva-inducement but I confess that I was getting so excited about this wine that the totality its finish very slightly disappointed. Still, this Viognier in a delightfully distinctive key should offer versatile delight over the coming 12 - 18 months, and quite possibly beyond.

- David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate, October 2013 – 90 points

2010

Golden Brioche in the glass leads to delicate scents of Calla Lilly, apricots and white nectarine. The viscous mid-palate sensation provides richness to tame the sweet and tangy fruit. The rich palate gently transitions to a lingering sensation of clean minerality.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

The Wine Advocate, Not picked until November 7 but still at only 13.3% alcohol, the Amalie Robert 2010 Viognier Our Muse – from a small parcel on the warmest part of their hillside – delivers a metaphorically cooling nose and subtly oily yet buoyant palate featuring honeydew melon, apricot, mint, acacia, and white pepper. Nut undertones, piquancy of apricot kernel, and pronounced salinity push the finish here into mouthwatering and invigorating prolongation and left me licking my lips in anticipation of the next sip. This distinctively delicious offering ought to prove highly versatile over at least the next 12-18 months, though I’d be very interested to learn whether it evolves positively thereafter.

- David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate, August 2012 – 90 points

2009

Platinum in the glass tattletales the sun ripened skins and fully developed aromatics that await. White flowers and honeysuckle are alluring and beckoning. The palate is unctuous, saturating and unrelenting with tropical jack fruit, mango and guava, and at he same time steeled with minerality. The transition to the lingering finish is seamless and evokes a longing to make another memory. 22 cases produced.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

2008

The bouquet opens with intense honeysuckle, passion fruit, yellow citrus and fresh ginger. The wine is rich and coating on the palate with a mélange of tropical fruits and spice. The finish is laser focused and unyielding, providing balanced acidity and due heft. 17 cases produced.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

2007

Brilliant straw in the glass introduces the delicate aromas of lemon grass, melon, and a hint of freshly grated ginger. The palate is bursting with ripe white nectarines, crisp tropical fruits and a rich unctuous mouth feel, finishing with balanced acidity.

- Amalie Robert Estate Tasting Notes

Email: Cuvee@amalierobert.com