Wine of the week: McManis Viognier 2018

This white shows that California producers who want to make great cheap wine can – and do

The Wine Curmudgeon has long been a fan of McManis’ $10 wines, which offer quality, varietal character, and tremendous value. In fact, the winery sometimes improves even on its own high standard – a bonus we don’t see much any more.

That’s the case for California’s McManis viognier 2018 ( $10, purchased, 13.5%). It’s a stunning white wine – my notes call it a “brilliant viognier that puts more expensive wines to shame.” In other words, all we can hope for from a $10 wine.

The viognier, despite its age, is still fresh. It’s a dry wine, with peachy fruit and a sort of oily quality, the kind of thing that sometimes shows up in the best French viogniers. The finish is almost pithy, which nicely balances the fruit and offers structure. This is summer porch wine – chill it and sip it.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year (as well as to remain in the Hall of Fame). The bad news? Availability can be spotty for the McManis wines, despite their quality and the fact that the winery us among the 100 biggest in the country. There appears to be lots of the 2019, which seems to be the current vintage, but not as much of the 2018. But, given McManis’ quality, the 2019 is more than worth trying.