Glera is the white grape behind Prosecco, Italy's most celebrated sparkling wine.
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Acidity
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White Grape · Tuscany
Viognier
Not a stray piece of the Rhone that wandered south, but a grape Italy chose: a perfume-maker planted to give apricot and weight to whites that would otherwise stay lean.
Viognier is the golden-skinned white grape of France's northern Rhone that Italy grows on purpose. In Lazio's Castelli Romani, across the Tuscan Maremma and Bolgheri, and around Vittoria in Sicily, it is planted for what it carries: apricot, honeysuckle and a soft, low-acid weight. Growers use it in small, deliberate doses to lend perfume and texture to blends built on Malvasia, Grillo and Vermentino.
4
Bottles live now
6
UK retailers
Setting it straight
More than meets the eye
vs
The reality
- Chosen, not inheritedRegistered in Italy only in 1999, after variety trials with Professor Attilio Scienza in Lazio's Frascati hills.
- A blending voiceUsually a minority share with Grillo, Malvasia or Vermentino, prized for scent rather than bulk.
- Its own textureLow acidity and a soft, oily weight that Italy's leaner whites rarely carry alone.
The myth
- Only Condrieu countsThe northern Rhone is its birthplace, but Italy now farms around 1,200 hectares of it.
- A neutral fillerThe opposite: it is one of the most aromatic whites grown in Italy, added precisely for that perfume.
The anchor fact: Italy did not inherit Viognier by accident. It was trialled and chosen at Castel de Paolis near Rome between 1985 and 1992, and planted deliberately for its perfume.
Taste · Where it sits
What it’s actually like in the glass
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Viognier described against grapes you already know.
BodyBroad and oily
LightFull
Fuller and rounder than its Sicilian partner Grillo or a coastal Vermentino, closer to a lightly oaked Chardonnay in weight.
TanninFaint skin grip
SoftGrippy
A whisper of phenolic grip from unusually thick golden skins, more textural pull than most Italian whites though far from a red's tannin.
AcidityLow and soft
SoftZippy
Markedly lower than Grillo, Vermentino or Verdicchio, which is exactly why Italian growers blend it in to soften sharper natives.
Fruit-sweetnessRipe but dry
DrySweet
Reads riper than it is: apricot flesh and honeysuckle suggest a sweetness the bone-dry Italian versions never actually deliver.
Key flavours
Apricot
The signature: ripe apricot flesh, the single aroma most often used to spot Viognier in an Italian blend.
White peach
Soft white peach rather than crisp yellow stone fruit, a marker of its low acidity and late Mediterranean ripening.
Honey
A rounded honey note that surfaces as the wine warms, part of why Viognier reads richer than a bone-dry Grillo.
Jasmine
Heady jasmine and hawthorn blossom from the grape's terpenic skins, the perfume Lazio and Sicilian growers plant it for.
Almond
Blanched almond on the finish, the trait critics singled out in Santa Tresa's Grillo-Viognier from Vittoria.
Orange blossom
Orange blossom edges the florals in warmer sites, a Sicilian and Maremma trait more than a cool-Rhone one.
Mango
A brush of ripe mango in the warmest vintages, where southern Italian sun pushes Viognier toward the tropical.
Racy · Crisp
Round · Soft
Light-bodied
Bold · Full
Glera
Chardonnay
Pinot Grigio
Vermentino
Garganega
Cortese
Viognier
The map
Viognier is full-bodied, gentle acidity, mapped against other white grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and freshness resemble Viognier.
Viognierfull-bodied, gentle acidity
Gleramuch lighter, far crisper
Chardonnaylighter, crisper
Pinot Grigiomuch lighter, far crisper
Vermentinomuch lighter, far crisper
Garganegamuch lighter, far crisper
Cortesemuch lighter, far crisper
Is this for you?
An honest gut-check
Reach for it when…
A bold red that just works
- You love aromatic whites: apricot, honeysuckle and peach, poured cool but not icy.
- You want an Italian white with weight and perfume rather than a lemon-sharp bite.
- You are matching herb-roasted pork or gently spiced food and want the wine to soothe, not cut.
Maybe skip it if…
You’re after something else tonight
- You drink whites for their zip and mineral cut: Grillo, Vermentino or Verdicchio will serve you better.
- You want a classic, historic Italian appellation on the label; most Viognier here is IGT or a blend component.
- Your plate is sharp, tart or vinegar-led, where low acidity can leave the wine flat.
Serving guide
Pour it at its best
Serve at
10-12°C
Serve cool but not cold; over-chilling mutes the apricot and honeysuckle that are the whole point.
Decant
No
No need to decant; Viognier's aromatics are immediate and fade rather than build with air.
Glass
Chardonnay Glass
A broad Chardonnay-style bowl gives the perfume room, suiting its full body better than a narrow flute.
Drink within
3-5 days
Once open it holds three to five days, though the florals soften after the first day.
Cellar
Up to 3 years
Drink young: most Italian Viognier is at its best within three years, before the aromatics fade.
On the table
What to eat with Viognier
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
Lazio's own
Porchetta
Fatty, fennel-scented roast pork from Viognier's Roman home ground; its apricot weight rolls over the richness where an acidic white would fight it.
Sunday staple
Roast chicken
Honeysuckle and a soft body flatter roast chicken and its herbs, giving a fuller pour than a lean Vermentino would.
Gentle spice
Chicken tikka
Low acidity is the trick with mild spice: Viognier's peach and honey cushion tikka's warmth instead of sharpening it.
Coconut and chilli
Kerala prawn curry
Coconut-soft Kerala prawn curry meets its match in Viognier's oily texture and ripe stone fruit, a pairing built on richness not cut.
Buy it · three to start with
Not sure which bottle? Start here
A curated trio across the price range, then every Viognier on sale in the UK right now.
Entry · everyday
1 retailer
Santa Tresa Rina Ianca Grillo Viognier
Sicilia
1 retailer
£12.61
View Wine
Why this one: A ripe 30 percent Viognier lifts organic Sicilian Grillo near Vittoria; the clearest, cheapest way to taste what the grape adds.
The sweet spot
2 retailers
Castel de Paolis, Campo Vecchio Bianco, Lazio
Lazio
2 retailers
£15.50
View Wine
Why this one: A fifth Viognier woven into Malvasia del Lazio, from the Frascati estate that pioneered the grape in Italy; the Lazio blend in its natural home.
Special occasion
4 retailers
Ornellaia Poggio alle Gazze dell'Ornellaia
Toscana
4 retailers
£47.00
View Wine
Why this one: Bolgheri prestige: a few percent Viognier perfumes Ornellaia's Sauvignon-led white, showing how little of the grape it takes to change a blend.
4 bottles
4 retailers
Ornellaia Poggio alle Gazze dell'Ornellaia
Toscana
4 retailers
£47.00
View Wine
2 retailers
Castel de Paolis, Campo Vecchio Bianco, Lazio
Lazio
2 retailers
£15.50
View Wine
1 retailer
Santa Tresa Rina Ianca Grillo Viognier
Sicilia
1 retailer
£12.61
View Wine
1 retailer
Omina Romana Hermes Diactoros II
Appellation TBD
1 retailer
£17.34
View Wine
Where it grows
The places it calls home
Tuscany
From galestro hills in Chianti Classico to the single Brunello rise of Montalcino and the sea-facing Cabernets of Bolgheri, Tuscany is Italian wine's stage in Read more
Lazio
Lazio is Frascati country with a serious red side. Volcanic whites from the Castelli Romani, Cesanese on the Ciociaria hills, and a Roma DOC reaching for Read more
Sicily
Volcanic Nerello on Etna's black terraces, sun-baked Nero d'Avola on the south-east coast, fortified Marsala in Trapani and UNESCO Zibibbo on Pantelleria Read more
Umbria
Italy's landlocked green heart, where Montefalco Sagrantino brings the deepest tannins on the peninsula and Orvieto's tufa cliffs ripen the country's most Read more
The terroir
Italy grows Viognier for perfume, and where it grows changes how loud that perfume gets.
Lazio's Castelli Romani
Grottaferrata and Frascati
The pioneer ground: blended with Malvasia del Lazio for apricot and body, volcanic soils keeping it savoury.
Tuscan Maremma and Bolgheri
Coastal Tuscany
Most of Italy's Viognier; used in small shares to lift Sauvignon and Vermentino blends, fresher and more mineral than the Rhone.
Vittoria, south-east Sicily
Terre Siciliane
Warm-climate perfume: partnered with Grillo on sandy soils, pushing white peach and orange blossom to the front.
Editorial
About Viognier
Viognier belongs to France's northern Rhone, where the terraced crus of Condrieu and Chateau-Grillet are its birthplace. By the 1960s it had almost vanished, with barely fifteen hectares left in Condrieu before an international revival began in the 1980s. DNA work in 2008 tied it by a parent-offspring link to Mondeuse Blanche and placed it close to the Piedmont grape Freisa, making it a near relative of Syrah, the grape it is co-fermented with in Cote-Rotie.
Viognier is rarely the whole story in an Italian white, but a deliberate aromatic voice within it.
On Viognier's Italian roleItaly registered Viognier only in 1999, yet its Italian story starts earlier, in the hills of Lazio. From 1985 to 1992 the Santarelli family at Castel de Paolis, working with Professor Attilio Scienza, trialled international varieties above Grottaferrata in the Frascati zone, and Viognier was among the successes. Today it anchors their Vigna Adriana and, in a smaller share, the entry-level Campo Vecchio Bianco, where it is blended with Malvasia del Lazio to add apricot and body.
Most Italian Viognier now grows in Tuscany, in the Maremma and Bolgheri, where estates such as Ornellaia fold a few percent into Poggio alle Gazze to lift a blend led by Sauvignon and Vermentino. In Sicily, Santa Tresa pairs it with Grillo near Vittoria, while Lazio's Omina Romana leans on it alongside Chardonnay. The pattern holds across these white wines: Viognier is rarely the whole story, but a deliberate aromatic voice within it, closer in spirit to the perfumed whites of Friuli than to the neutral fillers it once replaced.
Good to know
Frequently asked
No. Viognier comes from the northern Rhone in France, but Italy has grown it officially since 1999, mostly in Tuscany, Lazio and Sicily. On Italian labels it usually appears in a blend or as an IGT varietal rather than in a historic DOCG.
Expect apricot, white peach, honeysuckle and a note of honey and almond, carried on a soft, full body with low acidity. Sicilian and Tuscan versions often keep a fresher, more mineral edge than the richer Rhone style.
Viognier is prized as an aromatic booster. A small share lends perfume and texture to leaner natives: Grillo in Sicily, Malvasia in Lazio, Vermentino and Sauvignon in Bolgheri. It rarely dominates a blend, but it changes its scent.
Its low acidity and weight suit richness rather than sharp, acidic plates. Herb-roasted pork like porchetta, mildly spiced dishes such as chicken tikka, and coconut-based curries all work well. Avoid pairing it against very tart or vinegar-led dishes.
Viognier is authorised in Tuscany, Lazio, Sicily and Umbria, and is named in appellations including Maremma Toscana, Bianco di Pitigliano and Contessa Entellina. Tuscany's Maremma and Bolgheri hold most of Italy's roughly 1,200 hectares.
Viognier is said vee-on-yay, with a silent final r, reflecting its French origin.
Explore by style
Wine styles made from Viognier
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
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