Can I drink it now?

[WineViking]

My wife and I are starting to appreciate wine, and are quickly realizing how little we know, and how naive we have been for so very, very long. There seem to be quite a few experts here. Learning all this seems intimidating, but I guess we'll start with some baby steps.

I am right now drinking a Virginia Voignier (Rappahannock Cellers, in case there are any Virginians here) from 2005. Have I committed a mortal sin by opening this bottle so early? I understand that some wines are being made now for earlier drinking, but how does one learn which ones are OK to immediately drink, and which ones really should be stored for a couple or more years before drinking? Can a Voignier be immediately drunk? Drinking this now, I guess I would say it is OK, but not as fruity as I would have expected. I am wondering if maybe I failed to let it sit an appropriate amount of time to appreciate it.

This particularly bottle was purchased during a wine tour in the Virginia "wine country", and wasn't particularly cheap, though not too pricey...I believe something like $18 bucks.

Any insights are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[VouvrayHead]

I would imagine a Virginia viognier would be made for immediate consumption unless it was a desert wine. (Anyone out there had rosenblum's outstanding late harvest viognier?)
Maybe someone else has something more to add, but I wouldn't expect it to improve much from where it's at now.
Viognier is a great grape, but be warned that in 90% of affordable wines from this varietal, the nose will be better than the taste [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]
A couple of afforfable Viognier that I like are Cline (which is somewhat sweet- the 05 is good to go...) and Altas Cumbres, a bone-dry Argentinian. The '04 from them is OUTSTANDING for the money. Both are around $10.
As a general rule you drink Viognier young unless it's Château Grillet or Condrieu.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Viking and welcome to the Wine Board. In addition to the extremely small number of wines that need aging, there is a totally different concept called resting. Resting is the time a wine need to regain its composure after shipment. Shipment can mean across the country, or home from the nearest retailer. It would require an overnight in the latter case to ten days in the former case. Don't know if this was in play in this case.

Another concept is called aeratian. Most very young wines, and yours is an example, benefit from exposure to oxygen, the very thing that destroys it in the long run. Pouring the wine briskly into a decanter accomplishes this task.

[WineViking]

Thanks for the responses. VouvrayHead, I'll definitely check out your recommended viogniers. Thanks again.