Hands down: Fozen I’m surprised their’s has not been mentioned herein [unless I missed it]. Its creamy, rich, as in cherimoya, tropical with kiwi, grapefruit, minerals and did I say, creamy and rich?
Which is my problem with just about all the California Chenin Blancs mentioned. They all see oak - new oak - which I think destroys the fruit in Chenin Blanc. I do love the Foxen Chenin (and Chalone), but they remind me more of a Chardonnay then a Chenin Blanc.
And no love for any of the Clarksburg fruit Chenins? Dry Creek makes a million cases a year of a pretty clean Chenin Blanc -
I don’t drink much chenin and if I do it’s more often not-U.S… In reality the two domestics that I drink most are simple, not expensive, crowd-pleasers. Dry Creek and the Pine Ridge Chenin with some viognier blended in. I think the Dry Creek is still around $14 and the Pine Ridge can be found under $10. Neither has any oak, which I prefer not to note if ai’m going Chenin. The Pine Ridge is super simple, even a bit sweet, but has some nice nuances and acid. On a hot day, as a cocktail wine or with food possessing a little heat, especially for a non-geek occasion, it goes down fine.
I haven’t tried it, but John Gilman just gave a very high (for him) score of 91+ to the 2017 Beau Rivage chenin from Clarksburg. He put a drinking window of 2019-2030+ on it. It’s barrel-fermented and came in at 12.1%.
FYI, William Kelly of the Wine Advocate is a partner in that winery.
I kind of feel like a winemaker who uses new oak on Chenin doesn’t understand the grape…
+1
+1 l’Ecole CB is great.
I really enjoy the Chenin Blanc made by Jesse Katz at Aperture Cellars.
Thumbs up!