2016 Donelan Venus

The 2016 Venus is a Roussanne-dominated white that includes 5% Viognier, sourced mostly from the Dry Stack Vineyard (the Viognier comes from the Kobler Vineyard). It offers clean, pure, vibrant Roussanne notes of white currants, white flowers, and citrus to go with a steely, focused style on the palate. A classic example of this variety, it’s going to benefit from a year in bottle and keep for a decade or more. This is another brilliant lineup of wines from the Donelan Family, with the wines made by Joe Nielson. While their estate Obsidian Vineyard was lost in the fires last year, they’re already in the process of planning and replanting the site, and I was thrilled to taste through a small retrospective from what’s unquestionably one of the great terroirs in California. Looking at the 2015s, which are by and large the current releases, these are structured, tannic wines that are going to benefit from short term cellaring.