Browse Tag

chenin blanc

A nice game of Bulles

Jean-François Mérieau Touraine “Bulles” (Loire) – 80% chenin blanc, 20% chardonnay, sparkling. A little bigger than average Loire sparklers, a little gauzier than the best Loire sparklers. Chalk and aspirin, yes. A hint of honeysuckle? If so, it’s dried out…more like bee pollen, really, with a little bit of the wax in the mix as well. I’d call this more pétillant than sparkling, but its delicacy is here a virtue, allowing a very quiet wine to state its case. Nice. I wouldn’t really go beyond that, but “nice” is definite. (4/09)

Asara, storms are brewin’ in your eyes

[bottle]Asara 2003 “Noble Late Harvest” (Stellenbosch) – Botrytized chenin blanc. Aromatically beautiful, lush, and creamy, but it falls away on the palate. About halfway to being a truly great dessert wine; as it is, it’s very pleasant but uninspired. (11/08)

Mr. T

Ken Forrester 2005 “T” Noble Late Harvest (Stellenbosch) – From 375 ml, 100% chenin blanc, 115.7 g/l residual sugar, 14.5% alcohol. Holy Mother of God, is this sweet. Pure syrup of botrytized chenin, represented as mixed tropical fruits, dried apricots, and blended sugars and honeys of every sort. Aromatically, hints of a pan-Mediterranean fruitiness and herbality add complexity, and the acidity’s not bad at all, though of course it trembles in, and cannot emerge from, the shadow of this much sugar. Very, very, very long, and not just as a result of stick-and-cling. Intense and frankly fantastic, but in a highly particular style that will definitely not appeal to everyone. I’d love to revisit this in a few decades. Also: not even close to cheap. (2/09)

Research

Ken Forrester 2008 “Petit” Chenin Blanc (Stellenbosch) – While the whitish-yellow fruit here is fairly soft, it’s a good deal heftier and more present than base-level chenins usually are; this would appear to be a signature of Stellenbosch chenin, which picks up weight that it rarely attains elsewhere except in extreme late-harvest conditions. It’s not overweighted, though, and at a good price it’s a quite fair bargain. It doesn’t endure careful attention, but it’s not intended to. (1/09)

Pinon the donkey

Pinon 2006 Vouvray “Cuvée Tradition” (Loire) – Shy to the point of invisibility. Only the barest suggestion of waxy whiteness is perceptible, with a very light patina of sweetness. Either drink it in a sensory deprivation chamber, or give it the time it deserves. (1/09)

Pépe Le Peu

Pichot “Domaine Le Peu de la Moriette” 1997 Vouvray (Loire) – Not bad for thirty-year-old Vouvray. Wait, what’s that? OK…well, it’s advanced, then, with significant bronzing and a concentrated maser of brittle lemon in the middle, nice sweetness, and a fine dusting of chalk. It never really rises to any sort of complexity, but it’s good enough, if a bit ponderous by the dregs. Probable culprit: the cork is rigid, and wet from bottom to top. (1/09)

For seven brothers

[bottle]Seven Sisters 2007 Chenin Blanc (Yolanda) – It won’t remind anyone of the Loire Valley, but for those who like the fruity, sun-drenched expression of chenin blanc without much trickery or drapery, this is a simple pleasure. Don’t look for complexity, delicacy, or much length. You won’t find them. But it’s as drinkable as a New World wine could ever want to be. (10/08)

Jessey’s girl

Jessey “Domaine du Closel” 1997 Savennières Moelleux “Cuvée Isa” (Loire) – Quite literally smells like garbage. The palate is chalky and rough, with a mineralistic aspect, and while the wine comes off as dry there’s a thickness that can only come from the sugar. However, the wine is so utterly aromatically repellent that only the nasally-challenged could even contemplate actually putting it in their mouth. (6/08)

Goonies are Godineau

Godineau “Domaine des Petits Quarts” 1996 Bonnezeaux “La Malabé” (Loire) – Creamy aspirin, dried fall leaves still rich with autumnal color, and a bit of tannin for balance. Long and poised. Delicious, but not at the absolute top; a bit more complexity would be needed for that. (6/08)