Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Saturday, November 5, 2022 - Made with biodynamically farmed, hand-harvested fruit from high-density vineyards that are 35 years old on average. Fermented spontaneously in a combination of stainless steel tanks, oak barrels and egg-shaped concrete tanks. Boudignon aims to make wines without malolactic fermentation, but as he doesn't block it, some lots can go through MLF. Aged in a combination of 228-, 350- and 500-liter oak barrels from Stockinger - only a small portion of barrels were new. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with a tiny addition of SO2. 14% alcohol. Tasted blind.

Pale, youthful and quite translucent lemon-yellow color. Fresh, youthful and lively nose of fresh apples and white peaches, some cool steely mineral notes, a little bit of zesty lemony, light herby nuances, a crunchy hint of cantaloupe and a subtle creamy touch of oak. The wine feels dry and precise yet quite ripe, dense and even quite concentrated on the palate with a medium-to-moderately full body and intense, youthful flavors of fresh white peach, some honeyed waxy tones, a little bit of cantaloupe, light mineral notes of crushed rocks, a hint of herby spice and a creamy touch of oak. There's definitely some obvious sense of power and extraction, but instead of coming across as heavy or ponderous, the wine feels very focused, precise and full packed with minerality. The lemony acidity gives the wine wonderful sense of structure, freshness and intensity. The finish is juicy, very ripe and lengthy with a very mineral and quite powerful aftertaste of ripe red apples and cantaloupe, some steely mineral tones, a little bit of honeyed richness, light mineral notes of crushed rocks, a hint of lemony citrus fruits and a faint touch of creamy old oak character.

A very powerful, mineral and impressive Chenin Blanc that is packed with ripeness, yet the wine doesn't feel ripe per se - it's not big, heavy or soft in any way. You just sense the ripeness as this sense of concentration, extraction and intensity, but with all that acidity and minerality the balance here is really on point. However, the wine is still remarkably youthful in character, making it come across as a bit nervous and even slightly primary. The wine is really brimming with quality, but it seems to be more about future potential than drinkability and instant charm. Most likely just a couple of years of aging will do very little to this wine, so my recommendation is to let it age for at least a good handful of years. This was really an outstanding wine and I really need to keep the producer name in mind - very rarely a young Anjou Chenin blows your socks off like this wine did!

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