Chenin Blanc

This is a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley made from Chenin Blanc grapes.  The wine receives zero dosage.  It is made in the pétillant style using "natural" winemaking techniques (no added sulfites).  Pale gold in color, clear and bright.  Lots of quickly disappearing, medium sized bubbles.  The nose is lovely with green apples, with a slight smoky note and some minerality.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, sour apples, some green apples and minerality.  This is mostly dry.  Nice on its own, but better with food.  This is versatile and will work with a wide variety of foods

This is a sparkling wine (Methode Traditionelle) made from Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley of France.  Yellow/gold in color with slight green hues, mostly clear and bright.  The mouse shows a fair amount of medium sized bubbles.  The nose has a nice minerality to it with crushed rocks and a slight seltzer quality.  Nice mouthfeel.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, there is a nice seltzer note with slight ginger and a hint of char.  A bit of an herbal note (almost scallion like) on the finish.  This drinks well on its own and is very food friendly.  It would be excellent with l

This is a lightly sparkling wine made from Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley in France.  Golden in color, the mousse quickly fades in the glass.  Medium sized bubbles.  The nose is different with yeast, slight doughy notes along with a bit of salinity.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this is refreshing.  Dry.  Notes of honey (not sweet) and crushed shells.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This drinks well on its own but really needs some food.  It would be very nice with a wide range of foods from a Beet Salad to a Quiche.  Unique and not a substitute for a Champagne styled wine.  Drink

Excellent showing for this bottle at age 21.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with orange peel, sea air, slight apple cider, peach and minerality.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is complex but also delicious.  Deep with apples, peach and minerality.  Plenty of depth.  Long finish.  Great on its own, this went quite well with vegetarian spicy Indian Food.  Drink over the next ten years.  

Silvery gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with limes, slight orange peel, and a slightly burnt note.  Nice, slightly oily texture.  This is dry.  On the palate, limes and a slight bitter almond note.  There is a bit of depth here.  It needs to food to show its best.  Goat cheeses would work well, say a Goat Cheese and Beet salad.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

Wow.  Great showing for this.  And, as good as it was on opening, it was even better with a few hours of air!  Golden yellow in color, clear and bright.  The nose has honey, salinity, and crushed shells.  Full bodied.  Slightly sweet with some Botrytis.  On the palate, orange rind, minerality, with good acidity.  A bit of almonds on the finish.  This is complex and deep.  Drinking well with a couple hours of air, this should improve over the next ten years.  It should easily go three more decades.  Just a stunning wine.  It will work with more savory dessert such as a polenta cake but is qu

Wow.  Beautiful wine.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has slight tangerine, pears, chalk and a bit of ginger.  Full bodied.  Dry.  Deep if still tight.  Great balance.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Young, so if drinking soon, give it air.  Notes of ginger, pears and slight burnt orange peel.  Long finish.  This is great now, but still may improve a bit.  Drink over the next twenty years.  Great on its own or with food.  This would work well with grilled Trout.  

This is Chenin Blanc and was served at our Passover seder meal.  Kosher and non-mevushal.  It sees ten months in barrel.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lots of minerality but also slight citrus and some peach.  Medium bodied.  Slightly viscous.  On the palate, this is a rounder wine that works better with a bit of food.  In our case, it worked well with Matzoh Ball soup.  Some citrus, slight spice and underlying minerality.  Nice finish.  Drinking nicely now, this should go another three to five years.  

Sandlands makes some of the more interesting wines around.  I am a huge fan of their whites (and the reds are good, too).  This is a blend of 60% Chenin Blanc and 40% Semillon from various regions in California.

Huet is one of the top producers in the world.  That they make Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley just keeps the price down.  The 2020 is another star.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  It has a great nose with orange peel, slight ginger, sea air, quince.  Full bodied.  Great balance.  On the palate, this is slightly sweet with enough acidity to counter it.  Flavors of quince, slight ginger and salinity.  Long finish.  This is drinking great now and should for another fifteen years.  Great on its own, this will work nice with Thai food.