Chenin Blanc

Chidaine is a favorite Loire producer of ours.  Excellent wines for not crazy money.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with chalk/minerals along with pears and lemon rind.  Medium bodied.  Nice acidity.  Great texture.  On the palate, minerality with pears.  Long finish.  This is nice on its own and even better with food.  This would be great with a goat cheese and roasted beet salad.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years. 

Sandlands is one of the premier producers of Chenin Blanc in California.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has red apples, minerality and slight orange citrus.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  Nice mouthfeel.  On the palate, this is crisp and mineral driven with some apples.  Long finish.  Very food friendly.  This will work well with pork chops.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  

This is a blend of 67% Chenin Blanc and 33% Semillon from Napa Valley.  Very pale golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with a touch of red apples, orange rind and minerality.  Also a bit of wax.  Good balance.  On the palate, the minerality stands out.  Some apple notes.  Good finish.  This is a nice, lighter styled white wine that works well with lighter foods.  A nice wine with a Quiche.  Drink over the next five to eight years.  

In trying to explore Chenin Blanc, this one came highly recommended.  It is expensive for Chenin, but quite good.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is lovely with red apples, salinity, peach and slight floral notes.  Medium bodied with a crisp, slightly oily texture.  On the palate, the apples come thru along with a bit of peach and great minerality.  Long finish.  This is nice on its own and better with food.  It would be nice with a dish that combined pork and roasted apples.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  

My understanding is this is a one off bottling.  The winery had issues from the Glass Mountain fire and they really needed to source grapes for some cash flow until they could get on their feet again.  Hopefully, they will make it again as Chenin is such an under rated grape.  Medium golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with apples, slight honey note and a bit of orange peel.  Full bodied.  Enough acidity but  not pronounced.  On the palate, this is dry.  Big and deep.  Apples, green apples but also some citrus and wax.  Long finish.  This was an excellent pairing with a sa

Sandlands is a winery that I encourage my friends to get on their mailing list.  Chenin Blanc is a huge favorite of mine and Sandlands makes a few all are great and great values.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with red apples, orange peel and minerality.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is deep but also drinks well.  The red apples come thru with underlying minerality.  Good finish.  I tend to drink these young, but I would bet they could go for another ten years or more.  Great on its own, but better with food.  This is a nice choice with sp

This is a blend of 90% Chenin Blanc and 10% Malbec.  The name means "lower tongs" i.e. "panty remover" and the label a bit suggestive.  The wine itself is a pleasant, inexpensive sparkling wine from Argentina.  Light salmon pink in color, clear and bright with a frothy mousse.  The nose has strawberries with light cherries which carries thru to the palate.  Good acidity.  Easy drinking.  It seems like it would be very food friendly.  Fried chicken could be a good match.  

This is 100% Chenin Blanc fermented and aged in wood barrels.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose shows some citrus and spice.  A nice oily texture.  On the palate, lemons.  Crisp.  Nice finish.  A very nice wine that is drinking well.  The oak is not obtrusive and seems to add a bit of weight/texture to the wine.  It is lovely on its own and should work well with many foods.  It would be a nice pairing with scallops.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.

The Vouvray's of Huet are my most often opened white wine.  100% Chenin Blanc.  This vintage seems to be not a top vintage but the wine is still excellent and a nice value.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with pears, sea air, some orange peel and slight herbal note.  Medium bodied.  Slightly oily texture.  Crisp acidity.  On the palate, this is dry (Sec) with pears and slight citrus.  Moderate finish.  This improved over the three  hours it took to drain the bottle (two people).  It should drink well for the next ten to fifteen years.  Nice on its own, it is very

This is a blend of 86% Chenin Blanc and 14% Semillon from South Africa.  Medium gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has red apples, slight wax/lanolin notes and a bit of honey dew.  Medium to full bodied.  Some warmth on the palate.  Very concentrated with flavors of apples, slight honeyed notes and an almost lime quality.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  A very serious wine that is ageing well.  It has shed its primary qualities at this point.  This should drink well for another ten years (provided one enjoys aged Chenin).  It went very well with a "Somosa Pie".