California Chenin Blanc

2014 drunk in late 2023. Lovely color; honey on nose; still bright and lively on taste, maybe green apple acid and solid minerality.

Very tight nose. Taste is mineral with some creamy white fruit. Interesting.

This is my last bottle of the the 2016 Chenin Blanc “California” designation. We consumed this alongside the 2016 Huet Vouvray “Le Mont” Sec, you know, for fun! This wine pours a bright golden color with medium viscosity. The nose is mostly honeyed with white flowers. On the palate, quince, a touch of lime and a whole sheared sheep full of lanolin; more than any Chenin I can readily recall. Mouthfeel is creamy. Medium acid? I dunno, it’s kinda sneaky and might be closer to Medium+ but it doesn’t seem to have the acid that more recent vintages of Sandlands Chenin. Still, very tasty and seemed pretty young FWIW.

Rich and waxy style. Golden apple, vanilla, beeswax, poached pear.

Last bottle of vintage. See earlier tasting notes

Second tasting. Yellow in color, excellent clarity. Linen, lemon custard, stone fruit and honeydew melon notes in nose, even when just opened and over chilled. Lemon curd followed by ripe peach-apricot flavors, creamy tart finish with some skin astringency. After 60 minutes, ripe orange flavors emerge in the finish and aftertaste. Overall, this wine really shows why everyone should consider drinking more American Chenin Blanc. Thank you Sandlands! Fragrant yet subtly flavorful, and a fine exemplar of what this variety can be in a white table wine.

First allocation bottle I’ve opened. Lemon and fresh linen notes in nose. (I was skeptical about linen aroma mentioned by others, but yes, they were accurate. Does anyone remember what line-dried linens smell like?) Very crisp, dry, creamy with lemon pulp and candied lemon skin flavors. Great potential as a food wine. Simple, well crafted. Later hints of melon and mint flavors emerge with rounded mouthfeel, slight astringency

Clean linen, Meyer lemon, and merengue nose. Lemon curd and honeyed pineapple flavors. Creamy with building texture. The wine took a good thirty minutes to open up.

Not Vouvray, and that's OK.

Good Lord, this is slaying. Took a while for the nose to open up, but it's gushing pineapple, vanilla, and spice. In the mouth, there's this absolutey delicious honeyed pineapple thing going on. Love the texture--creamy and delicious. Would pair amazingly with lobster & tarragon butter.