Beau Rivage 17/18/19 Chenin Blanc

Hi all,

Really looked forward to my first case of these and have now tasted the 17 twice, and each of the 18 and 19… all followed over several days and opened well ahead of consumption.

I was sure they would blow my mind due to the positive reviews here. But instead I am getting a lot of notes that I’d expect from Sauvignon rather than Chenin. I like Loire Chenin from Plouzeau, Monmousseau, Chidaine (when not oxidized), and Huet. And I like the Sandlands Amador, so it’s not an anti-American slant….I find these all pleasant and enjoyable, but wanted to leave my two cents here.

Tell me why I’m wrong and know nothing of Chenin!

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What did you find in the wines that made you feel like it wasn’t Chenin? Did you have all the wines in one go or separate occasions, was it at proper temp? Did you find all the vintages the same? I would check out the cellar tracker notes. There should be some differences between the wines since the cellaring times were different. I had them and definitely did not see any resemblance to Sauvignon Blanc (domestic), no trace of grass or tropical notes. Were you able to taste SB varietal notes?

Definitely 2017 felt like a dry Chenin to me - and it didn’t display oak to my palate. I gifted a bottle to a friend and they loved it - with seafood and oysters.

To be more clear, quite a lot of green notes on all three wines. Yes proper temp etc. I am enjoying the wines. I typically get melon, pear, honeycomb, a waxy texture, and notably no grass/green. All three of these have had a distinct cut grass note on the palate. Maybe I am off!

Hi Dan, I had an off-bottle I think of the 18 but definitely got the green notes that you did so you are not the only one!

I love the cut and precision of that lean 2018, it is at 11.5% ABV

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I’m new to Chenin, drink a lot of CA and NZ Sauv Blanc- so take this with a grain of salt because I really know nothing about Chenin!
Over the fall/winter/spring stretch decided to add some more fun, outdoor, summer drinkers to the rotation with Chenin as one target. Ordered Beau Rivage '18, Enfield Jurassic Park '19, D&R Brosseau '20, Lieu Dit '18, Leo Steen '19. So far, had multiple bottles of each except the Steen. My favorites so far have been the Enfield JP and D&R.

Like you, I was very excited to taste the Beau Rivage based on feedback here. It was the first Chenin I got into this summer; I chilled it in the fridge for 2 hours, uncorked, poured off a small glass for 15 mins. Very muted and uninspiring while cold, so much that I opened something else before dinner. Came back to it every 15 mins or so. By dinner time it had 60-90 mins of air and was somewhere between cellar temp and room temp; the air, warmer temp and food seemed to help immensely. I thought it had grassy notes too. Lots of green apple, pear, sea shell minerality, sea air. The next time I served it straight out of the cellar with 60 mins slow ox (small glass poured off). Much better showing, but still green/herbaceous notes that I liken to SB.
I decided after reading notes on Cellar Tracker I would also give the Beau Rivage '19 a try also as some more experienced tasters felt '18 either needed more bottle time or was a weaker vintage of BR. Haven’t tried the '19 yet.

TL/DR- I taste the green-ness in the Beau Rivage '18 also. Tastes much better to me with an hour of air and closer to cellar temp or warmer. I prefer other Chenins to it so far. Haven’t written BR off yet as the '18 seems to be weaker than the '17 or '19 at least right now.

Interesting observations! I did mention in the release notes that the '18 has some Sauvignon-like characteristics (more Quincy than Sancerre, if we’re looking at French analogies and permitting myself to be a bit pretentious), but to me that’s quite distinct to the 2018 vintage and really sets it apart from '17, '19 and now '20. I just opened a bottle at close to room temperature, as I hadn’t tasted it for five or six months, and I actually like how it’s evolving: the Sauvignon-like characteristics are more prominent than ever on the nose, but on the palate the wine has picked up some amplitude and texture, and the bright spine of acidity means it doesn’t really need to be very cold (please don’t serve it too cold!). Paradoxically, 2018 is both by far our latest harvest, and also our lowest alcohol to date: and I alternate between wishing we waited another week to ten days to pick, to thinking it will evolve very nicely with time (1993 white Burgundies, anyone?). Given the fruit expression, which is quite exuberant and even exotic today, and structure, I tend to be in the latter camp most often, but it is definitely a John Gilman vintage rather than a James Laube vintage. In surrounding vintages, the wines have a bit more mid-palate weight, something we have been actively looking for from 2019 onwards, and longer lees aging is going to be part of that in the future, too. But interestingly, our Japanese importer preferred 2018 to '17 and '19 and ordered a pallet of only 2018, which just goes to show…

As for Chenin in general, all the French wines you listed, Dan, are quite different in that they carry plenty of residual sugar and also likely have higher acids / lower pH. Thanks to this, wines such as Chidaine, Huet et al. are working with a sort of sweet-and-sour dynamic that is not really replicable in California. So the comparison with Sandlands is more like-with-like just in terms of chemistry. Without residual sugar for mid-palate weight, and without any of the late-harvest characteristics that one finds in demi sec and beyond Vouvray, Chenin can really be quite a reserved grape out of the gates, especially if it is at 11.5 % rather than 13.5%, and I was surprised by how long our 2017 took to unwind out of the gates. That’s one reason we tried to introduce a bit of a delay into the sales cycle, so we are still on 2018 when I think most wines at this price point and variety are on later vintages. Personally, I would like to be selling it with five years’ bottle age systematically, but we will see how that goes.

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Thanks for the additional background and I will put the rest out of reach for now. Interesting to hear that the Huet secs have noticeable RS. I guess the acid has always overwhelmed it enough that I haven’t picked up on it.

Always a few grams. We sent a bunch to the lab to have a look when we were thinking of making Chenin. They also generally don’t go through malolactic.

BTW BR18 was a lot more interesting yesterday at close to room temperature. The colder it got, the more the wine shut down and an herbal element did indeed come to the fore. Makes me want to add a strip label saying “serve barely chilled”! With the low abv and lively acids the wine has its own freshness, in any case.

Opening a 2017 this weekend.
Never had Chenin before so I was wondering what kind of glasses are good for it? I have Zalto Burgundy, Bordeaux and Riesling on hand pluss some Riedel Chardonnay glasses.

Thanks for digging up my old thread. I had a 2019 just a few days ago in Grassl Cru, served AT ROOM TEMP and with a ton of air. This certainly gave a different impression here than my last bottle. We are talking mid-to-high 60s serving temp!

So a BFG then?

Is Beau Rivage still active? They still have the '18 for sale but that’s it on their website.

I found the '17, '18 and '19 all to be nice wines, but for me it’s the 2020 Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc that really raises the bar here. There’s a lot to look forward to for fans of William and Frank’s project.

Hopefully William will chime in but I seem to recall him mentioning that they are holding back some vintages in order to get some age on the bottles before release.

William I agree. I prefer my Chenin close to room temperature as it is more open with the typical lanolin aromas and less linear.

Psst, William…how long until new vintage…should I guard my 17’s, 18’s, and 19’s? Or throw caution to the wind and indulge my Chenin desire?

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My note on the '18 from last night. Have yet to try '19, but I liked this better than the '17.

  • 2018 Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg (2/16/2022)
    Needed a hump day boost. Drank with home made stir fry (beef, red peppers, bok choy, light and dark soy, oyster sauce). Lightweight in lemony concentration, bitter rind flavor and stoniness on the finish. With some air and 90 minutes, I started to detect almost a kumquat note. Super refreshing. Don’t serve this too cold and give it time. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I think 2017s and 2018s are both showing as well as they ever have right now! The 2019 is still pretty youthful, but shows a step up as we refined a few details. But we are trying to hold off releasing 2019 (which has thus far only gone to Berserkers) and 2020 so they have a bit more time in bottle before going public. Chenin is pretty slow to unwind, so we are trying to establish a rotation whereby everything has a few years in bottle before release!

Beyond Chenin, we are looking at doing a Pinot Noir rosé (something we planned for 2021 but which didn’t work out), a Château des Tours-styled red blend, and perhaps an old vine Wente selection Chardonnay with no-holds-barred Burgundian methods; though the latter would obviously be a bit of a departure from what we hope is the somewhat reasonable pricing structure that we have established with the Chenin, and would only amount to a couple of barrels. The temptation to make some Chardonnay, however, is quite strong.

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