Chenin Blanc Tasting

G

garrett_pierce

Garrett Pierce
We've been doing some themed tastings in Sonoma/Napa area recently, and last night was all about Chenin Blanc:

cheninpic.jpg
06 Foreau Vouvray Brut 'Clos Naudin' - Bubbles are 40% of production? Wow! Classy, apple skin, frothy-beauty.

08 Chateau L'Eperonierre Savennieres 'Croix Picot' - From the Tijou family, formally of Soucherie. Classic Savennieres notes with some mineral/wax components. A little blah when first cracked, but opened up in a more luscious way after 1.5 hrs.

09 Leo Steen Chenin Blanc, Dry Creek - Sandy riverbed soils, 30yr old vines, dry farmed, less than 1,000cs. Bright, lemony, dry-style. Some people sensed oak, but I wasn't convinced. Not much in the finish except for sharpness.

09 Catherine & Pierre Breton Vouvray Dilettante - I think Catherine handles all the Chenin production. Very ripe mandarin, more sugar than I expected, but balanced well with the acid, almost Mosel-esque this vintage. This was everyone's favorite from the first half on the night.

09 Mosse Anjou Blanc - Boy do I love the nose on this wine...it haunts me! Lush blend of ripe fruits and golden honey. I've always experienced a slightly oxidized side to their wines, but the finish on this one tasted more oxidized than usual, but didn't take away too much from the overall enjoyment.

06 Foreau Vouvray Sec - You can taste the age on this already. It's fading into that ghost-fruit phase, and what's left is an odd saline/chlorine tone.

08 Chateau Soucherie Coteaux du Layon - I guess it's all about how much Botrytis they can get...and they seemed to get a bit on this vintage. Was that the case with Coteaux du Layon in 2008? Super-ripe apricot, tons of minerality, lush, complex and deep. One of my favorites of the night. Should age for a long while.

08 Huet Moelleux 'Le Haut Liue' - Did we commit infanticide? Probably. Was the wine amazing? Positively. This was my first bottle Huet in a while and I found it gorgeous. After opening it, I passed out the Huet Stat Chart that Brad had posted, and it was fun to chat about the sugar/acid levels, especially since we were drinking the 08 Haut Liue, which had such a high ratio of acid. There was a great music compilation put out a few years back, called 'Golden Apples of The Sun'. I kept muttering those words while I drank.
 
originally posted by SteveTimko:
Did you like the 2006 Foreau Vouvray Sec?
Note to self: Drink more Loire chenin blanc.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed it more last year when there was still a bit of fruit showing (not sure if it's a phase or just what happens to the Sec over time). Still fun to taste though.
 
Sounds tasty. But I can't believe you missed, right in your backyard, Ballentine's Napa Pocai vineyard Old Vine Chenin Blanc. Zesty, fragrant and highly recommended! Bless them for maintaining those those old Chenin vines in such valuable Cabbish real estate.

Where did you get the bubbly being 40% of Foreau's production figure? That's really interesting. Does anyone know if this is typical?
 
originally posted by garrett_pierce:
originally posted by SteveTimko:
Did you like the 2006 Foreau Vouvray Sec?
Note to self: Drink more Loire chenin blanc.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed it more last year when there was still a bit of fruit showing (not sure if it's a phase or just what happens to the Sec over time). Still fun to taste though.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the dumb phase, plenty long with some Loire chenin, tends to be particularly long with Foreau. Not that it's forever. I shared a bottle of the '98 sec this summer with friends (one of whom was a whole grilled bass) and it was astonishing: full and deeply honeyed while remaining fresh, defined, and utterly dry. I took the wine very personally, as if it had been unearthed just for us. That might sound silly but that's just the way it was.
 
Thanks for the notes.

I stumbled across a Loire Chenin I'd never heard of last night at the Weygandt grand re-opening tasting: Richard Leroy's Anjou Les Noëls de Montbenault. It was extremely good: a well balanced demi-sec with tremendous, puckering acidity and soupcon of oxidation. Almost weightless but with really great intensity. Worth a spin if you see it.
 
Two Leroy chenins were featured as a preamble to pab's latest let's-try-these-Bojos-while-they're-asleep fest. Leroy's a darling, in both senses.
 
originally posted by garrett_pierce:

06 Foreau Vouvray Sec - You can taste the age on this already. It's fading into that ghost-fruit phase, and what's left is an odd saline/chlorine tone.
Click to expand...

Interesting. It showed quite well at the Foreau-a-thon in May. Here's my note from then.

2006 Foreau- Vouvray Sec
This was showing young and grapey. Just a lot of primary fun right now with puppy friendly yellow fruit, honeysuckle and mineral that tends to obscure the structure underneath, making the wine seem softer than it is. Good stuff. B+/A-.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
So maybe there's still hope for the 99 Foreau Sec.
Click to expand...

None, imo. It was a pretty poor year especially for drier wines due to all the grey rot. Sweet wines fared better because there was some botrytis mixed in. My note on it from May.

1999 Foreau- Vouvray Sec
Shows the vintage's grey rot problem in spades, with sulfur, to boot. Really brought home the smell of caps from my youth as well as swim team when it showed a chlorine note. Just not pleasant. C-.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks for the notes.

I stumbled across a Loire Chenin I'd never heard of last night at the Weygandt grand re-opening tasting: Richard Leroy's Anjou Les Noëls de Montbenault. It was extremely good: a well balanced demi-sec with tremendous, puckering acidity and soupcon of oxidation. Almost weightless but with really great intensity. Worth a spin if you see it.
Click to expand...

Weygandt has cleared out the last two vintages of Leroy at fairly absurd prices. I'm hoping he has to do the same for this one. It's a great wine and it doesn't seem to catch on.
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
So maybe there's still hope for the 99 Foreau Sec.
Click to expand...

None, imo. It was a pretty poor year especially for drier wines due to all the grey rot. Sweet wines fared better because there was some botrytis mixed in. My note on it from May.

1999 Foreau- Vouvray Sec
Shows the vintage's grey rot problem in spades, with sulfur, to boot. Really brought home the smell of caps from my youth as well as swim team when it showed a chlorine note. Just not pleasant. C-.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I've been loath to open my lone bottle; maybe a mercy killing is in order the next I go swimming.
 
Was hoping to run into you there last night, Jonathan. Tim and Matt poured a nice line-up, including Marc Plouzeau's 2007 Ante Phylloxera Chinon, which was pretty great, imho. Also some Maillart NV bubbles.

Don't recall the Leroy pricing ... $32? They are carrying the other bottling, too; both 2008.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks for the notes.

I stumbled across a Loire Chenin I'd never heard of last night at the Weygandt grand re-opening tasting: Richard Leroy's Anjou Les Noëls de Montbenault.
Click to expand...

As Oswaldo mentioned, you must not read the pab threads. He's been a big booster for years, with some skepticism from the US Disorder contingent. I've found the wines good but not mindblowing. Perhaps my sample size has been too small.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Was hoping to run into you there last night, Jonathan. Tim and Matt poured a nice line-up, including Marc Plouzeau's 2007 Ante Phylloxera Chinon, which was pretty great, imho. Also some Maillart NV bubbles.

Don't recall the Leroy pricing ... $32? They are carrying the other bottling, too; both 2008.
Click to expand...

As a general rule, I show up on Saturday afternoons. If you are going to make portages into DC and want to meet up, you should let me know.

They put the last couple of vintages on sale at I think 40% off so both bottlings were in the $20 or less I think.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Sounds tasty. But I can't believe you missed, right in your backyard, Ballentine's Napa Pocai vineyard Old Vine Chenin Blanc. Zesty, fragrant and highly recommended! Bless them for maintaining those those old Chenin vines in such valuable Cabbish real estate.

Where did you get the bubbly being 40% of Foreau's production figure? That's really interesting. Does anyone know if this is typical?
Click to expand...

I got that figure from Jim Budd and some friends who visited Clos Naudin last year.

I will definitely look for this Old Vine Chenin you speak of. A quick search shows that it is super-affordable.
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by garrett_pierce:

06 Foreau Vouvray Sec - You can taste the age on this already. It's fading into that ghost-fruit phase, and what's left is an odd saline/chlorine tone.
Click to expand...

Interesting. It showed quite well at the Foreau-a-thon in May. Here's my note from then.

2006 Foreau- Vouvray Sec
This was showing young and grapey. Just a lot of primary fun right now with puppy friendly yellow fruit, honeysuckle and mineral that tends to obscure the structure underneath, making the wine seem softer than it is. Good stuff. B+/A-.
Click to expand...

That Foreau-a-thon looked incredible!

I'm hoping that my 06 Sec was an anomaly, because I really enjoyed the bottles I had last year...very similar in memory to what you observed.

And since I also encountered the 99 Foreau Sec this week, we are in agreement that grey rot befouled that fine property and made for a tough vintage.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
He's been a big booster for years, with some skepticism from the US Disorder contingent.
Click to expand...

Perhaps same could be said of Pfifferling/Anglore.
Click to expand...

I have a similar reaction to the Anglore wines (good if not mindblowing), although I thought I had seen some US support for them over here. And I'm always open to finding new ways to blow my mind.
 
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