I had Champalou Vouvray (imported by Kermit Lynch) on Monday night and
it was fantastic. Realitively cheap, too, at $14 a bottle. I'm
perfectly happy drinking it, but I was wondering if there's any chenin
blanc grown and bottled in California that comes relatively close?
Especially in the foothills or central coast area, where I'll be doing
some tasting in the next month or so.

Vouvray covers an extreme range of styles from bone dry to honey sweet
and in qualities from poor to outstanding. I have not had the Vouvray
you mentioned.

Chenin Blanc has long been grown as a blending wine in California. It
often has been used to add needed acid to white wines produced in warmer
regions of the state. However very little Chenin Blanc has been offered
as a single variety wine. Apparenty it is difficult to sell to the US
public. I can not think of a recent high quality one that I could
suggest. Hwever, since you may be in the area, some living California
may be able to suggest something. I still have a few half bottles of
Callaway Sweet Nancy(Chenin Blanc) 1977. This is a very rich and sweet
late harvest wine that somewhat resembles one of the better late harvest
Vouvrays. Despite the sweetness, it has considerable acidity as is
typical. However it has a touch of a "clover" herbal character that is
different from any Vouvray I have tasted.

Reply to .

Pine Ridge made an outstanding chenin on the dry side as did Dry Creek.
Christian Bros, Krug and Mondavi were the best of the semi-sweet--close to
Vouvray style.
Chapallet & Chaslone occasion made a bone-dry version--if recall.
Washington had a few good chenin producers. A very overlooked grape IMHO



--
Joseph B. Rosenberg
"Cwdjrx _" > wrote in message
...
> Vouvray covers an extreme range of styles from bone dry to honey sweet
> and in qualities from poor to outstanding. I have not had the Vouvray
> you mentioned.
>
> Chenin Blanc has long been grown as a blending wine in California. It
> often has been used to add needed acid to white wines produced in warmer
> regions of the state. However very little Chenin Blanc has been offered
> as a single variety wine. Apparenty it is difficult to sell to the US
> public. I can not think of a recent high quality one that I could
> suggest. Hwever, since you may be in the area, some living California
> may be able to suggest something. I still have a few half bottles of
> Callaway Sweet Nancy(Chenin Blanc) 1977. This is a very rich and sweet
> late harvest wine that somewhat resembles one of the better late harvest
> Vouvrays. Despite the sweetness, it has considerable acidity as is
> typical. However it has a touch of a "clover" herbal character that is
> different from any Vouvray I have tasted.
>
> Reply to .
>

"joseph b. rosenberg" > wrote in
:

> Pine Ridge made an outstanding chenin on the dry side as did Dry
> Creek. Christian Bros, Krug and Mondavi were the best of the
> semi-sweet--close to Vouvray style.
> Chapallet

is a very wine I will buy it if I can't get a good Vouvray. (and FWIW my
last Champalou (2003) was not as crisp as I like it) You might also like
Montlouis which like Vouvrqay is available in demi and sec versions

In article >, says...
>
>Pine Ridge made an outstanding chenin on the dry side as did Dry Creek.
>Christian Bros, Krug and Mondavi were the best of the semi-sweet--close to
>Vouvray style.
>Chapallet & Chaslone occasion made a bone-dry version--if recall.
>Washington had a few good chenin producers. A very overlooked grape IMHO
>
>
>
>--
>Joseph B. Rosenberg
>"Cwdjrx _" > wrote in message
...
>> Vouvray covers an extreme range of styles from bone dry to honey sweet
>> and in qualities from poor to outstanding. I have not had the Vouvray
>> you mentioned.

[SNIP]

Yes, Pine Ridge, US/CA/Napa/Stags Leap did, and may still do, a nice Chenin/
Viognier blend. Though not particularly in a Vouvray style, it was a very nice
light, "almost" bone-dry wine. It sold retail in AZ for US$9.00/0.75 and is a
great little "welcome wine." One nice aspect is that one can finish the whole
bottle and not get the "edge" that most US Chenins seem to develop.

Hunt

Casa Nuestra used to make a couple of Chenin Blancs as recently as a few
years agoa. You may want to check them out.
Tim


> wrote in message
ups.com...
.. but I was wondering if there's any chenin
.. blanc grown and bottled in California that comes relatively close?
.. Especially in the foothills or central coast area, where I'll be doing
.. some tasting in the next month or so.

Yeah,
I like the Pine Ridge Chenin/Viognier blend too- reasonably priced.

Dry Creek Vineyards used to put out a very inexpensive CB (From
Clarksburg AVA, I believe) that was reasonably tasty. Then prices went
up, and quality seemed to go down. Wienstock and Vinum (also Clarksburg
I believe) weren't bad either.

Lately I've mostly stuck to Vouvray and Montlouis (let's hear it for
Deletang and Chidaine).

But I'm willing to try some more US Chenins, usually quite reasonable.

Forgot all about them, Tim. I brought one shipment from them into MD about
18 years ago--after tasting wine from about 30 wineries--my Italian
wholesaler was looking to expand--I think Casa Nuestra & Melim were two the
wineries we chose. Wholesaler was a "slow" payer and CN refused a second
order.

--
Joseph B. Rosenberg
"Tim O'Connor" > wrote in message
...
> Casa Nuestra used to make a couple of Chenin Blancs as recently as a few
> years agoa. You may want to check them out.
> Tim
>
>
> > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> . but I was wondering if there's any chenin
> . blanc grown and bottled in California that comes relatively close?
> . Especially in the foothills or central coast area, where I'll be doing
> . some tasting in the next month or so.
>
>

In article .com>,
DaleW > wrote:
>
>I like the Pine Ridge Chenin/Viognier blend too- reasonably priced.


I'll be the one to rain on the parade and say that I've tried this twice
because 1) It was cheap and 2) I like viognier and chenin blanc both. The
combination sounds interesting, but in reality I can't say that I liked
it. It was very much a chenin blanc in character, but there was some sort
of funk to it that did not sit well to me. I assume the 'funk' is the
viognier. It's very much a dry wine, which is not what I would've
expected.


Dimitri

I have found several Chenin Blancs made since 2000. They range in price
from under US$5 to about $13, with only a very few costing more. I
suggest that you consult the web sites for wines from these sources,
when available.

Beringer, Baron Herzog, Ehrhardt, Callaway, Daniel Gehrs, Chappellet
Winey, Foxen Vineyards, Chalone, Sutter Home, Husch La Ribera Vineyard.
Also Hogue in Washington and Ste. Chapelle in Idaho.

At these prices, one knows that Chenin Blanc is not very popular in the
US. You might even find a bargain among them, but I would guess you will
find many very ordinary bottles. I would guess most of these wines would
be dry to slightly sweet. No one could afford to sell a top late harvest
wine from any grape at the prices for which these wines sell. If I could
select from all of them, I think I would first try Chappellet, Chalone,
and Foxen - only because these often have made several other types of
very good wines. However I will only be interested in one if someone
makes a top late harvest one again.

Reply to .

In article >,
says...
>
>I have found several Chenin Blancs made since 2000. They range in price
>from under US$5 to about $13, with only a very few costing more. I
>suggest that you consult the web sites for wines from these sources,
>when available.
>
>Beringer, Baron Herzog, Ehrhardt, Callaway, Daniel Gehrs, Chappellet
>Winey, Foxen Vineyards, Chalone, Sutter Home, Husch La Ribera Vineyard.
>Also Hogue in Washington and Ste. Chapelle in Idaho.
>
>At these prices, one knows that Chenin Blanc is not very popular in the
>US. You might even find a bargain among them, but I would guess you will
>find many very ordinary bottles. I would guess most of these wines would
>be dry to slightly sweet. No one could afford to sell a top late harvest
>wine from any grape at the prices for which these wines sell. If I could
>select from all of them, I think I would first try Chappellet, Chalone,
>and Foxen - only because these often have made several other types of
>very good wines. However I will only be interested in one if someone
>makes a top late harvest one again.
>
>Reply to

At points in time, in the past, Chalone has done LH Chenin. Some years back, I
picked up my allocation of three 0.375ltr IIRC. They were cellared for about
4-5 years, and were excellent. Not too cloying, and still exhibiting some nice
acid. I looked for TNs, but cannot find any. If I do, or find a bottle lost in
the cellar, I'll let you know. These were picked up AT the winery in
Pinnacles, and, to my knowledge, were not available through normal retail
distribution. Don't know if this helps.

Hunt

Hunt wrote:
>
> At points in time, in the past, Chalone has done LH Chenin. Some
years back, I
> picked up my allocation of three 0.375ltr IIRC. They were cellared
for about
> 4-5 years, and were excellent. Not too cloying, and still exhibiting
some nice
> acid. I looked for TNs, but cannot find any. If I do, or find a
bottle lost in
> the cellar, I'll let you know. These were picked up AT the winery in
> Pinnacles, and, to my knowledge, were not available through normal
retail
> distribution. Don't know if this helps.
>

Hunt -- I wasn't aware of a late harvest chenin blanc from Chalone,
but have had their regular bottling that came from old vines (I believe
80 or so years old), but belive they discountined this (along with
pinot gris) and grubbed the vines to something more lucrative. This was
the only US chenin blanc which had the weight and viscosity of a Loire.
And it aged well, too. So the short answer to the original question is
"no", better to look elsewhere IMO.

Mark