Chenin Blanc

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.

We drank thru a case of this wine and this was the last bottle.  Ten were superb, one was off and one was corked which was about par for the course back in the day with sweet Loire white wines.  This was also superb, and if you have any, no hurry on them.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with orange peel, apricots, sea air, canned peach syrup.  Full bodied.  Slightly sweet.  On the palate, canned peach syrup, oranges, and slight caramel note.  Long finish.  Great on its own, this will work well with not too sweet (and no chocolate) desserts.  Drink up over the next fiv

This sparkling wine from the Loire Valley is 100% Chenin Blanc.  Light golden in color with a fair amount of quickly disappearing medium bubbles.  The nose has seltzer and minerality.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, bitter almonds with a hint of orange peel.  Shorter finish.  A very pleasant wine as an aperitif.  Nice on its own, it should be very food friendly.  Fried appetizers would work well.  Drink over the next year or two.  

This is an iconic bottling from one of the controversial masters of Loire wines.  He has long used "natural winemaking techniques" long before they were en vogue.  The lack of preservatives in the wines leads to a higher amount of spoilage at times, so one needs to be careful with ordering, shipping and storage.  No worries here, this wine was stunning.  It is made from 100% Chenin Blanc grown biodynamically since 1984.  Golden in color (not deep), clear and bright.  The nose is great with orange peel, apricots, salinity and just a slight note of nuttiness.  Medium to full bodied.  On the p

Domaine Huet makes some of the best Chenin Blanc wines anywhere in the world from dry to sweet to sparkling.  This one is semi-dry and is wonderful.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with citrus (lemons and slight tangerine), salinity and chalk.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  Good balance and acidity.  On the palate, citrus with nice minerality.  This is sweet but not at dessert levels.  The acidity balances it nicely.  This drinks great on its own and will work well with spicy Thai food.  Drink over the next fifteen to twenty years.  

One of the cool things about Vouvray is that it is made from Chenin Blanc grapes which more often than not can age well.  When I walked into a local  wine store and saw this for $20, it was well worth the flier.  The only real problem is that there are no more.  Made by American Peter Hahn and imported with Rosenthal, this is a lovely wine.  Medium golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has nice minerality with hints of orange peel and a bit of apricot.  Medium bodied and slightly viscous.  At age 12, there is just a bit of sweetness here (some has probably faded since bottling).  A n

Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with minerals, orange peel and crushed shells.  Medium bodied.  Slight sweetness.  Lots of minerality with some salinity.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  Drinking quite well now.  Nice on its own and will work with lighter salads.  Drink over the next five to eight years.