I tasted some amazing bottles of wine recently. The depth, complexity and sheer loveliness was so great that it needs to be shared with you.
It may come as a surprise that it was not a Chardonnay, Cabernet or Syrah. Indeed, it wasn’t even from Washington or California. It was from the icon of vinifera grapes, France.
The French make a white Burgundy that every Chardonnay producer wants to hold a candle to. Same with Cabernet. Who can beat a first growth Bordeaux or even a super-second? Have you ever tried a red wine from northern Rhone? Where Syrah is co-fermented with Viognier? All perfection.
But here is another grape you must taste. It’s a grape that was once held in high esteem, but because Chardonnay, Cabernet and Syrah fetch more profit, this grape’s popularity has waned. This is my shot at convincing you to try a bottle of Chenin Blanc. Or Vouvray. Or Montlouis. Or Bonnezeaux. All from the delightful, versatile Chenin Blanc grape.
The Loire Valley, west of Paris, stretches 630 miles from the Atlantic through the center of France. Dubbed the “Garden of France,” its well-groomed gardens are bountiful, castles and chateaux magnificent, and its vineyards produce great whites.
Indigenous to this region, Chenin Blanc is produced in the center of the Loire Valley with Muscadet to the west and Sauvignon Blanc to the east. Chenin Blanc comes in a wide range of styles from a lush sweetie (Quarts de Chaume) to bone dry (Savennières). Its wonderful sparkling wines are labeled Mousseaux or Cremant.
The climate, soil and topography give the wines a minerality and acidity that balances the concentrated flavors pear, peach, lemongrass and honey flavors. Its greatest asset is its acidity, which is ever present even under warm growing conditions like that in eastern Washington. That balancing acidity also makes these wines age-worthy and food worthy.
Aged Chenin Blancs unveil complex aromatics, body and minerality that make these wines so distinguished. Have you ever had a 9-year old bone-dry Chenin Blanc that was the best white wine you’ve ever tasted?
If not, you may want to try a Domaine des Baumard 2010 Clos du Paillon Savennières. It was sublime. The best wine at the gathering. Everyone was blown away by this amazing, old Chenin Blanc. It paired particularly well with the Thai mussels in coconut milk.
The other outstanding Chenin Blanc we tasted was the Domaine des Baumard 2009 Quarts de Chaume. A luscious, honeyed wine with remarkable acidity for a 10-year old sweet white wine. The 375ml bottle yielded about an ounce and a half in each glass. Enough to enjoy the concentrated aromas for some time before indulging in the taste that lingered forever. A slab of pate is the quintessential accompaniment.
Many years ago, domestic Chenin Blanc was a well-received jug wine with few exceptions. One that stood out was Chappellet Vineyard’s old vine Chenin Blanc. High up on Pritchard Hill in Napa Valley, the original vines were producing when Donn and Molly Pritchard purchased the property back in the 1960s.
In the 1980s, Washington was white wine country. Specifically, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat and Chenin Blanc. Two wineries that excelled in Chenin Blanc were Kiona Vineyards and Bookwalter Winery.
If you wander to Red Mountain’s Kiona Vineyard, their old vine Chenin Blanc is a must. In this AVA, well-known for its powerful reds, this pioneering family planted Chenin Blanc in 1976 and then another block in 1983. If the conditions were right, the result was a heavenly ice wine.
But with warmer and warmer winters, ice wine conditions are becoming few and far between. Kiona rolled with the change in climate. Their newest edition is Fortunate Sun, a dessert wine much like a Vin Santo. By pruning the leaf canopy late in the season, the autumn sun works its magic to raisin the grapes. Thus concentrating flavors, aromas and sweetness.
Not too far away in Richland, Bookwalter Winery has a drier version of an old vine Chenin from Yakima Valley’s Willard Vineyard, planted in 1980. Bookwalter hand harvests and whole cluster presses then ferments at cold temps with 60% in concrete egg for 4 months and the remainder in stainless steel. Delightfully delicious.
Other dry and off dry, crisp, aromatic, full-flavored Washington versions that compare favorably to those produced in the Loire Valley:
Lobo Hills Roth Rock Chenin Blanc
McKinley Springs Horse Heaven Hills Chenin
L’Ecole No. 41 Yakima Valley Chenin Blanc
Cedergreen Willard Vineyards Chenin Blanc
This delightful yet highly underrated grape offers so much. So much complexity, flavors and aromas. And its wine pairs so well with a wide range of foods from appetizer to dessert throughout each season, won’t you try some today?
Cheers!
At the grandest Washington
wine tasting, there will be over 236 wineries, pouring several
wines each. It’s always good to make a list – and try to follow it
without getting too distracted. I like to start out with the most
expensive ones since they’re the first to go.
Taste Washington is the
place to be. It’s four days of events that overflow with
Washington’s culinary riches. There are delicious wines from over
235 Washington wineries to sample and bites from over 65 local
restaurants at the Grand Tasting on Saturday and Sunday, March 30
and 31, at CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle.
and Canoe Ridge Estate
Vineyards; Red Mountain’s oldest, Kiona Vineyards; Coyote Canyon’s
Vineyards high atop Horse Heaven Hills; Lake Chelan’s Double D;
Clos Che Valle Vineyards; and two other Red Mountain vineyards,
Shaw and Quintessence. Intriguing, right?
handful of Grenache Blancs
and a couple of Picpouls. These white grapes are the best summer
wines. The Walls Vineyards in Walla Walla Grenache Blanc was easy
drinking, Cairdeas and Callan had fabulous Grenache Blancs, crisp,
fruity and minerals. Callan’s Picpoul was the white wine of choice
at Taste. It was very, very good. Another Picpoul worth seeking out
comes from Syncline in the Columbia Gorge AVA.
but you could still sport
the standard beer fest accessory – a pretzel necklace. The event is
Saturday, January 27th, at the Fisher Pavilion in the Seattle
Center. There are two sessions, the first from 12-4pm and the
second from 5:30-9:30 pm. Tickets are $37 in advance or $45 at the
door. But you take your chances at the door where limited tickets
are available. The later session always sells out.
is Wine on the Rock. Wine
on the Rock is a two-day wine and chocolate affair held at each of
the seven Bainbridge wineries.
has the oldest running Red
Wine and Chocolate event. The weekend of February 17th and 18th
over 40 wineries in the Yakima Valley AVA will be pouring tastes of
fine wines and nibbling on decadent chocolates from 10:00am until
5:00pm.
I love their Red Mountain
sourced wines. All of these wines will draw you in, as they drew me
in, by their fragrant aromas.
is a property of
California’s Duckhorn Winery. This 2014 Cab is from Ciel du Cheval
Vineyards while they wait for their 20 acres of estate vineyards,
planted in 2011, to come to maturity. This wine is a blend of 87
percent Cab, 9 percent Merlot, and a dollop of Cab Franc and
Malbec. Get some of this beautiful wine.
animals — such as Ciel du
Cheval (French for horse heaven), Horse Heaven Hills, Badger
Mountain and Rattlesnake Hills. Native American names like Yakima,
Naches, Tapteil, and Wahluke are also found on the vineyards and
AVAs. Some vineyards are named for early wine pioneers like Mercer,
Sagemoor, Weinbau, Dionysus and Bacchus.
sporting bell bottoms and
dancing to the Bee Gees. Kiona’s John Williams and Jim Holmes
planted the first vines on the south side of Sunset Road.
Fortunately, some of those same vines are still in production.
Shea Frichette, changed
careers and relocated to Red Mountain to be closer to family.
As with most Red Mountain wineries, its portfolio is chalk full of
Cabernet, Merlot and a Malbec that stains your glass purple, with
blackberry pie aromas and flavors of blackberry and cocoa with a
touch of minerality.
Charlie Hoppes, a
much-sought-after consulting winemaker, just completed his 28th
vintage of Washington wines. His 12 acres are planted to Bordeaux
varietals. The 2013 Malbec is another with very dense color,
aromatic with black fruits and spice. It’s a wonderful
medium-bodied wine to enjoy on the deck with a wedge of aged Gouda
and some crusty bread.
Stacy and Russ Hamilton
have 10 acres, with 9 ½ planted three years ago under the
supervision of veteran Dick Boushey. They also have veteran Charlie
Hoppes as their winemaker. Their 2012 Red Mountain Malbec is from
the Scootney Vineyards while waiting for their vines to mature.
This Malbec has cocoa and black cherry flavors; a dense,
glass-staining color and soft tannins.
And for a designated
driver, let me recommend something slow, easy and lots of fun:
