Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - An organic Chenin Blanc from a low-yielding 50-yo vineyard. Fermented spontaneously and aged for 15-18 months in old, neutral 600-liter oak demi-muids. Bottled unfiltered. 12% alcohol.

Medium-deep lemon-yellow color with a burnished gold core. Complex and subtly oxidative nose with attractive aromas of lemon marmalade, some waxy funk, a little bit of chopped nuts, light smoky tones, a hint of caramel and a sappy touch of minty herbal greenness. The wine is dry, lean and slightly bitter on the palate with a medium body and quite acid-driven flavors of apple peel some steely minerality, a little bit grapefruit, light caramel tones, a hint of creaminess and a touch of green almond. The bright, racy acidity lends tremendous intensity to the taste. The finish is long, sharp and acid-driven with bright, complex flavors of tart green apples, some zesty citrus fruits, light oxidative notes of nuttiness and caramel, a little bit of green almond, a hint of apple peel bitterness and a touch of tangy salinity.

A very distinctive, precise and quite complex Chenin Blanc that feels both very youthful and relatively evolved at the same time. I guess the subtly oxidative winemaking is what makes the wine feel somewhat more evolved than it really is, but for that exact reason it is very hard to assess whether the wine is evolving prematurely or just made into this style, which would mean the wine is really built for the long haul. It's neither fish nor fowl and thus a bit hard to assess, but what's important: it's pretty enjoyable. It might leave one scratching their head, but there's nothing wrong here. I'm interested to see how this wine will evolve over the years.

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