Honey and melon dominated the beautiful nose, with just a hint of
grass. Slightly sweet with nice sugar/acid balance. It carries its
heat well (13.8% ABV). Medium lenght finish. This wine makes me
wonder why chenin blanc is so unpopular.

Man-Ho Chu

Man-Ho Chu wrote:
> Honey and melon dominated the beautiful nose, with just a hint of
> grass. Slightly sweet with nice sugar/acid balance. It carries its
> heat well (13.8% ABV). Medium lenght finish. This wine makes me
> wonder why chenin blanc is so unpopular.

Most CA Chenin blancs were very uninteresting wines. It's only been in
the past 5-10 years that producers have taken it seriously and figured
out where to plant it. Husch produces theirs in the Anderson Valley,
which is one of the best sites for it (Lazy Creek and Navarro produce
good examples). Clarksburg is also a good site for Chenin (Pine Ridge's
Chenin Blanc-Viognier is a reliably nice wine and priced well). Another
problem that Chenin blanc has faced is that it's usually most attractive
as an off-dry wine and Americans have long since dismissed "sweet" wines
as not for serious wine drinkers. That attitude is, hopefully, slowly
changing.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark,

How do CA CBs compare to Loire in terms of acidity? I have come across SA
CBs that had been subjected to very forceful malolactic fermetation
(actually smelling of yoghurt and other dairy products), so my guess would
be that even in a warmer climate the retain their acidity. Is that the case?

Cheers

Nils

--
Respond to nils dot lindgren at drchips dot se
"Mark Lipton" > skrev i meddelandet
...
> Man-Ho Chu wrote:
>> Honey and melon dominated the beautiful nose, with just a hint of
>> grass. Slightly sweet with nice sugar/acid balance. It carries its
>> heat well (13.8% ABV). Medium lenght finish. This wine makes me
>> wonder why chenin blanc is so unpopular.
>
> Most CA Chenin blancs were very uninteresting wines. It's only been in
> the past 5-10 years that producers have taken it seriously and figured
> out where to plant it. Husch produces theirs in the Anderson Valley,
> which is one of the best sites for it (Lazy Creek and Navarro produce
> good examples). Clarksburg is also a good site for Chenin (Pine Ridge's
> Chenin Blanc-Viognier is a reliably nice wine and priced well). Another
> problem that Chenin blanc has faced is that it's usually most attractive
> as an off-dry wine and Americans have long since dismissed "sweet" wines
> as not for serious wine drinkers. That attitude is, hopefully, slowly
> changing.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
> Mark,
>
> How do CA CBs compare to Loire in terms of acidity? I have come across SA
> CBs that had been subjected to very forceful malolactic fermetation
> (actually smelling of yoghurt and other dairy products), so my guess would
> be that even in a warmer climate the retain their acidity. Is that the case?

Nils,
No one is likely to mistake any of those CA Chenins for Huet or
Baumard, but they have decent acidity for CA and don't come across as
flabby at all. Of course, here I'm speaking only of the top few and
there are plenty of awful examples. Those top wines also see no ML
according to my palate.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com