Texturally this has some chardonnay characteristics, as that's the white I would usually with oak. The flavor profile is that of a robust chenin with the acid dampened a touch. It's a different style of chenin that is OK for my taste.
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This is a bit of a serious wine, needs some thought and introspection to appreciate...medium yellow, nose is complex, interesting - not much overt fruit, but a lot of aromas that one might associate with Grandmas attic - varnish, old leather, dusty wool...palate is smooth, full, round, and the flavours are nutty, almond, wool, tree bark, that sort of thing. Quite interesting (more interesting than it is sounding!!), this is much more a food wine than a sipper, but intensity is good, and the length is very good. Interesting, cerebral wine.
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An entry level chenin blanc. Very well crafted, green at the outset then opens up and becomes sweeter, a bit more of fruit. For $25 a very good bargain. However, the wine lacks complexity and I would have liked a bit more acidity. That said, very good bargain at that price. Ready to go. Do not hold.
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A bit wooly and reductive on day one, this freshens up overnight with yellow fruit, lanolin, and subtle florals. More pretty yellow fruit, jasmine, and florals follow on the palate. It's rich, but balanced enough to come across little more than midweighted, with a nice contrast of palate breadth with a sense of minerality-acidity. Finishes clean yet simultaneously long with a stony-mineral streak. Very good and then some.
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A fresh, still quite complex white with primarily chenin blanc having the right amount of oak and a medium long finish. Drink now and over text five years.
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Light color. Medium/- weight. Minerals, perfume and lime. Blend of a handful of varieties but Chenin is dominate yet blind many thought it was Chardonnay. Nice value and perfect salad pairing.
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Served blind. Jasmine flower, anise in the aroma. Richer styled, bit of custard, orange oil and a polished/glycerine texture. This is mostly Chenin Blanc with some other white varietals blended in.
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Bought off the list in A Wong. Really good, expressive, a richness there but not too plush. If i'd have had to identify it blind "generous ZA Chenin blanc" is where I think I would have gone. Just ever so slightly better than it should be - the kind of wine you'd order off the list with clients you wanted to impress, but didn't want to think you were squandering their money. A class act and I will look for this to buy.
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Very balanced, medium sweetness, medium acidity. Notes of nuts and orange. Subtle taste of sweet fruit and nuts. Very nice paired with a vegetable moussaka and Greek olives.
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This could pass for White Burgundy. Shockingly good, and as good it gets for this style of white. Complex, concentrated, fresh, lengthy, with a slight flinty note on the finish. Seriously good stuff.
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Well...a bold competitor to Alheit's Cartology bush vines 2019: On nose: green pear, fresh sourdough bread, and subtle vanilla/ oak. On palate: the above flavour notes enhanced, as well as floral notes of Freesia, meyer lemon, clean, stony minerals, blanched almonds and a ghost of fennel. This remarkable field blend of high qualiity , is 74% Chenin Blanc ....the remainder , 26% French and Spanish varietals ...including 7% Viognier, which prompted a blind taster at dinner, to assume " Northern Rhone: Condrieu"...lol....love it.....not cheap , at $53.00 Canadian in Vancouver....but top quality, and surprisingly " ready" to drink.
Tim Atkin note: Chenin Blanc is the marquee variety here, with support from 26% Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Semillon Gris, Viura and Verdelho, most of which is sourced from remarkable palate length. 2021-27
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A little thin. Yellow fruit, but the intensity of the fruit is not there. Balanced but a little short. Perhaps it needs a year or two to fill out but not sure about this.
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Very young with dominant acidity and mineral finish. Aromas of citrus and pear, but not much else at this time. I wanted to like this more, still a decent wine but nothing I want to fill my cellar with.
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Wow. Spectacular blend dominated by Chenin Bland. Lovely, bold nose with loads of minerality, plastic, cream, citrus and apricot. Perfectly integrated acidity and alcohol (impossible to believe this is 14% abv). Rich, bold and crisp.
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4/27/2024 - ggroebli wrote: flawed
Dead
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10/13/2023 - safarimad Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great flavor with amazing mouthfeel.
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6/12/2023 - theebigjuan Likes this wine: 89 Points
Texturally this has some chardonnay characteristics, as that's the white I would usually with oak. The flavor profile is that of a robust chenin with the acid dampened a touch. It's a different style of chenin that is OK for my taste.
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6/5/2023 - winot Likes this wine: 90 Points
This is a bit of a serious wine, needs some thought and introspection to appreciate...medium yellow, nose is complex, interesting - not much overt fruit, but a lot of aromas that one might associate with Grandmas attic - varnish, old leather, dusty wool...palate is smooth, full, round, and the flavours are nutty, almond, wool, tree bark, that sort of thing. Quite interesting (more interesting than it is sounding!!), this is much more a food wine than a sipper, but intensity is good, and the length is very good. Interesting, cerebral wine.
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4/21/2023 - Rupert wrote:
Somehow, this just didn't come together like last time. Perhaps it was just a bad match with the wild garlic.
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3/14/2023 - atbarbar wrote: 89 Points
An entry level chenin blanc. Very well crafted, green at the outset then opens up and becomes sweeter, a bit more of fruit. For $25 a very good bargain. However, the wine lacks complexity and I would have liked a bit more acidity. That said, very good bargain at that price. Ready to go. Do not hold.
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2/28/2023 - Rupert wrote: 92 Points
The 2019 is just as intriguing and delicious as past vintages. Waxy and honeyed, some apricots and baked apples, and it's wonderfully animated. Super
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2/21/2023 - robferguson1 wrote: 92 Points
Good
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2/2/2023 - robferguson1 wrote: 90 Points
Pleasant
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12/1/2022 - hadukla Likes this wine: 90 Points
Good! tastes like applesauce, straightforward and good acidity.
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11/19/2022 - ggroebli Likes this wine: 93 Points
Toller Wein. Cremig, Holz, gute Säure, Alkohol.
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7/26/2022 - chatters wrote:
Artisans of the Wine Galaxy (Upstairs at the Dolphin Hotel): Wild ferment meatiness, citrus. It's juicy but sour without lots of acidity, touch of waxy texture but a bit meh for me.
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5/26/2022 - cct wrote: 89 Points
A bit wooly and reductive on day one, this freshens up overnight with yellow fruit, lanolin, and subtle florals. More pretty yellow fruit, jasmine, and florals follow on the palate. It's rich, but balanced enough to come across little more than midweighted, with a nice contrast of palate breadth with a sense of minerality-acidity. Finishes clean yet simultaneously long with a stony-mineral streak. Very good and then some.
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5/16/2022 - perwendin Likes this wine: 90 Points
A fresh, still quite complex white with primarily chenin blanc having the right amount of oak and a medium long finish. Drink now and over text five years.
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4/29/2022 - brigcampbell wrote:
Light color. Medium/- weight. Minerals, perfume and lime. Blend of a handful of varieties but Chenin is dominate yet blind many thought it was Chardonnay. Nice value and perfect salad pairing.
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4/28/2022 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Served blind. Jasmine flower, anise in the aroma. Richer styled, bit of custard, orange oil and a polished/glycerine texture. This is mostly Chenin Blanc with some other white varietals blended in.
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12/19/2021 - DFBW Likes this wine: 91 Points
Great wine. Lovely aroma. Minerals, chalk, laser sharp fruit and plenty of depth.
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11/6/2021 - lozatron Likes this wine:
Bought off the list in A Wong. Really good, expressive, a richness there but not too plush. If i'd have had to identify it blind "generous ZA Chenin blanc" is where I think I would have gone. Just ever so slightly better than it should be - the kind of wine you'd order off the list with clients you wanted to impress, but didn't want to think you were squandering their money. A class act and I will look for this to buy.
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10/13/2021 - mdanser Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very balanced, medium sweetness, medium acidity. Notes of nuts and orange. Subtle taste of sweet fruit and nuts. Very nice paired with a vegetable moussaka and Greek olives.
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9/17/2021 - shallowdrift Likes this wine: 93 Points
Remarkably well-made.
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6/9/2021 - Technicalsomm Likes this wine:
This could pass for White Burgundy. Shockingly good, and as good it gets for this style of white. Complex, concentrated, fresh, lengthy, with a slight flinty note on the finish. Seriously good stuff.
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5/1/2021 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
A wine of real character. Plenty of layers, minerals, citrus, grape fruit, herbs, confit. Tasted over six days, no signs of decline. Great stuff.
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4/11/2021 - Pontifax Likes this wine: 93 Points
Well...a bold competitor to Alheit's Cartology bush vines 2019:
On nose: green pear, fresh sourdough bread, and subtle vanilla/ oak.
On palate: the above flavour notes enhanced, as well as floral notes of Freesia, meyer lemon, clean, stony minerals, blanched almonds and a ghost of fennel.
This remarkable field blend of high qualiity , is 74% Chenin Blanc ....the remainder , 26% French and Spanish varietals ...including 7% Viognier, which prompted a blind taster at dinner, to assume " Northern Rhone: Condrieu"...lol....love it.....not cheap , at $53.00 Canadian in Vancouver....but top quality, and surprisingly " ready" to drink.
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1/4/2021 - Andrew King wrote:
Tim Atkin note: Chenin Blanc is the marquee variety here, with support from 26% Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Semillon Gris, Viura and Verdelho, most of which is sourced from remarkable palate length. 2021-27
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11/21/2020 - Skrutt (Formerly RotHead) Likes this wine:
Gulpable with fruit I'd like to call solid and forthcoming. No mid-palate to speak of at all but a refreshing, acidic finish.
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11/15/2020 - Omar Khayyam wrote: 86 Points
A little thin. Yellow fruit, but the intensity of the fruit is not there. Balanced but a little short. Perhaps it needs a year or two to fill out but not sure about this.
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11/7/2020 - Sebran wrote: 88 Points
Very young with dominant acidity and mineral finish. Aromas of citrus and pear, but not much else at this time. I wanted to like this more, still a decent wine but nothing I want to fill my cellar with.
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10/31/2020 - MS86 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wow. Spectacular blend dominated by Chenin Bland. Lovely, bold nose with loads of minerality, plastic, cream, citrus and apricot. Perfectly integrated acidity and alcohol (impossible to believe this is 14% abv). Rich, bold and crisp.
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8/28/2020 - Isi VJ Likes this wine:
Great blend!
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