Jennifer Morris
Take a walk through Salem’s wine landscape. Whether you’re cellar-savvy or simply curious, this column invites you to explore Salem’s wine scene
Vio-what? Yes, it’s French, but it has been grown here in the Willamette Valley since the early 1990s. Pronounced vee-own-yay, this unique white wine is worth a taste. Viognier tends to have a really nice texture, a little richer than one might expect, but still very refreshing due to its fruitiness and balanced acidity. Perfect for a holiday meal.
Cristom Vineyards (6905 Spring Valley Rd NW) finishes fermenting their Viognier in a concrete egg after some time in neutral oak. A concrete egg is a large, oval-shaped fermentation vessel that allows the wine to move around inside, essentially stirring itself, and it is very good at managing the temperature of the wine. It won’t add extra flavors to the wine, but it will allow a little oxygen in. The resulting wines are full of fruit character, and in the case of Viognier, that means a little peachy with some tangerine and lovely flowers like honeysuckle and orange blossom. Viognier is not sweet, but you will be sweet on it!
— Jennifer Morris
Certified Specialist of Wine and Oregon Wine Expert
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 29 (Fall 2026)
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