Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): Very different from my last experience with this. The greenness isn't there anymore. It's a fairly clean chenin, with modest acidity, but it does suffer from a slightly natty bent, showing a very sappy quality to the fruit and a bit of browning quality. It's not my preferred style of chenin, but a fine enough bottle.
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-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over 2 hours --
NOSE: moderately expressive, with hints of grass and freshly-crushed coriander seed; a faint little cologne (aquatic) note.
BODY: light maize color of medium intensity; medium bodied.
TASTE: lots of mineral; medium concentration of fruit --- light apple/pear combo, leaning more in the direction of pear (Anjou); doesn't seem to have the stuffing to age very long (with acknowledgement it's already 6 years post-vintage); more on the mineral/herb spectrum than fruity/acid; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; medium to medium+ acidity; honestly, a bit of a let-down given others' glowing reports and the fact that it's from the 2015 vintage. gut: 90 - 91. Drink Now through 2023.
50, 5, 12, 16, 7 = 90
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My first stab at a Brendan Stater-West with even a little bit of age. This may have been his first vintage with this wine. This shows a sweet tart style of Chenin with a nice dose of mineral tension. It lacks a middle to bring things together in a cohesive whole; however, this was promising enough that I might buy a couple of bottles of the current vintage to lay down to see what happens.
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Sour green apples and not disimilar to a good Chablis. Lovely acidity and 'zip'. A touch of smoke, this was the first vintage here and although a little short was a nice 'drinking' wine.
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Served blind, I initially thought this was a chablis, but on the softer side. Light green apple flavors without being too tart, some light green vegetal flavors in the finish, but overall quite pleasant. I get the sense this should hold well for some time. My tasting appears quite a bit softer than CT notes over the past few years.
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Chenin at Table, Donkey and Stick (Chicago, IL): I think others liked this far more than I did. The nose was interesting, with some green pepper and the smell you get when you devein sugar snap peas. That sweet green smell is alright in spring vegetables; I'm not sure I enjoy it so much in chenin. The palate is a little thin and green again, with those odd sappy green notes. Good acidity, with a curious bit of spice on the palate, but mostly for me it's a question of getting past the green.
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New to me. Admirable purity and clarity, mineral and yellow fruits, good energy. Somewhat elusive at this stage. First vintage for this wine so let’s see where it goes.
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Decanted for a couple of hours. Needs air, comes alive and settles down beautifully. The nose is just wow. Clean and powerful, sharp as a knife. Lemon peel, lemon sorbet, pretty much the most gorgeous lemon notes you can imagine. Grass, rocks, smoky minerality, the purity and precision in this wine... The acidity is feisty, and young. But with a proper decant it mellows down and becomes perfectly integrated. First vintage from Brendan Stater-West and he certainly got my attention, amazing.
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3/11/2024 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
Heater week; 3/8/2024-3/17/2024 (Chicago, IL): Very different from my last experience with this. The greenness isn't there anymore. It's a fairly clean chenin, with modest acidity, but it does suffer from a slightly natty bent, showing a very sappy quality to the fruit and a bit of browning quality. It's not my preferred style of chenin, but a fine enough bottle.
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2/13/2022 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 90 Points
Med - body, floral, orchard fruit, mineral
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6/14/2021 - grafstrb wrote: 90 Points
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 2 hours --
NOSE: moderately expressive, with hints of grass and freshly-crushed coriander seed; a faint little cologne (aquatic) note.
BODY: light maize color of medium intensity; medium bodied.
TASTE: lots of mineral; medium concentration of fruit --- light apple/pear combo, leaning more in the direction of pear (Anjou); doesn't seem to have the stuffing to age very long (with acknowledgement it's already 6 years post-vintage); more on the mineral/herb spectrum than fruity/acid; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; medium to medium+ acidity; honestly, a bit of a let-down given others' glowing reports and the fact that it's from the 2015 vintage. gut: 90 - 91. Drink Now through 2023.
50, 5, 12, 16, 7 = 90
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1/23/2021 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 90 Points
My first stab at a Brendan Stater-West with even a little bit of age. This may have been his first vintage with this wine. This shows a sweet tart style of Chenin with a nice dose of mineral tension. It lacks a middle to bring things together in a cohesive whole; however, this was promising enough that I might buy a couple of bottles of the current vintage to lay down to see what happens.
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10/4/2020 - lovanc@outlook.com wrote:
Delicious rich but light on the palate wine. Assuming high acidity due to the lightness but well balanced by the other components.
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5/16/2020 - magnum1 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sour green apples and not disimilar to a good Chablis. Lovely acidity and 'zip'. A touch of smoke, this was the first vintage here and although a little short was a nice 'drinking' wine.
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1/29/2020 - cos65 Likes this wine:
Served blind, I initially thought this was a chablis, but on the softer side.
Light green apple flavors without being too tart, some light green vegetal flavors in the finish, but overall quite pleasant.
I get the sense this should hold well for some time. My tasting appears quite a bit softer than CT notes over the past few years.
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4/21/2019 - JohanPe wrote: 94 Points
No significant development since last time. A tiny step softer acidity but still a racy wine with electric notes of citrus fruit.
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12/2/2018 - R.H. Likes this wine:
Delicious bottle of chenin
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5/14/2018 - acyso wrote: 85 Points
Chenin at Table, Donkey and Stick (Chicago, IL): I think others liked this far more than I did. The nose was interesting, with some green pepper and the smell you get when you devein sugar snap peas. That sweet green smell is alright in spring vegetables; I'm not sure I enjoy it so much in chenin. The palate is a little thin and green again, with those odd sappy green notes. Good acidity, with a curious bit of spice on the palate, but mostly for me it's a question of getting past the green.
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4/21/2018 - LW31 wrote:
New to me. Admirable purity and clarity, mineral and yellow fruits, good energy. Somewhat elusive at this stage. First vintage for this wine so let’s see where it goes.
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9/29/2017 - JohanPe wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for a couple of hours. Needs air, comes alive and settles down beautifully. The nose is just wow. Clean and powerful, sharp as a knife. Lemon peel, lemon sorbet, pretty much the most gorgeous lemon notes you can imagine. Grass, rocks, smoky minerality, the purity and precision in this wine...
The acidity is feisty, and young. But with a proper decant it mellows down and becomes perfectly integrated. First vintage from Brendan Stater-West and he certainly got my attention, amazing.
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