Winemaker Notes
Expect ripe fruit aromatics including citrus, exotic fruit and baked quince or apple. In its youth, there can be a slight bitter almond edge that softens over the aging process.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Rich and opulent, with plenty of savory power and saltiness to maintain expert balance, this is a blockbuster of a Chenin. Honey cream and warm hay notes wrap around baked apple, Asian pear and quince, all set against bitter white tea tannins and crushed flint. Fleur de sel–dusted almond and ground ginger details chime in through the delicious finish, which goes on and on. Stunning.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
Known for its delightful whites and sparkling Pétillant and Mousseux, made predominantly of Chenin blanc, Anjou has a temperate and dry maritime climate. The region's limited temperature variations are admiringly referred to locally as the “douceur angevine,” or “Anjou sweetness.” Fruit forward rosé and red wines from Cabernet Franc and Gamay merit Anjou its success within the Loire subregions.