I think I eliminated Huet in the much longer / more tiresome version of my first post, but it was lost in the edit.
If it helps guide suggestions at all, I prefer the acidic style of Vouvray, but tend to appreciate Chenin from just about anywhere. Thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever “splashed out” for a bottle of Chenin. And that makes me wonder: am I depriving myself of some of the best (yet still affordable) Chenin experiences, or is expensive Chenin simply an extremely rare beast? (and is it even worth buying)
and in response to another post: I am in no way wanting to pay close to $100, but I think that’s probably my limit.
Richard Leroy. Hard to find but not very expensive ex-domaine. Gets a bit crazy on secondary market. With a bit of age those are world class wines in my book. They’re natural and biodynamic but not in a hipster “tastes of bruised apples” kind of way. The acidity, vibrancy and length of those wines are amazing.
Bernaudeau: regarded as the king of chenin by many in France. Killer juice.
The top end bottlings of Guiberteau can be spell-binding, though need a bit of time to shine. His clos des carmes 2010 rivals most 1er cru burgs i’ve drank, and quite a few grand crus too. He’s also the winemaker at Clos Rougeard for the Breze, though I find he does better at Guiberteau than at Rougeard
Sorry about that, “splurge” is a better way of putting it. If you do want to splurge, one other thought is to pay up for an older bottle. They are out there, and many of them (especially the dryier ones) come in under $100. Of course aged Huet is the most widely available, but many of the others mentioned here show up on Wine-Searcher from time to time in vintages as early as the 90’s, and sometimes even earlier than that…
Michael,
I removed Huet because I thought an entirely blank slate would make for better discussion.
That said, my experience with Huet has been mostly good, but a little bit varied.
I am loving the great variety of suggestions offered so far by folks. Very cool to see many different regions represented. I have long wondered if chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc may be the white wine that most reflects its terroir. Of course, Chardonnay and Riesling probably have something to say about that, too.
What inconsistencies have you experienced, Michael? I have only in the last year started trying Chidane, and overall I am liking the wines quite a lot, finding them to be low-level excellent to solidly excellent. Just last week I had a 2015 Clos de Brueil that, with food, was particularly special. If I recall correctly, my experiences with this producer are limited to the 2015 vintage,.
My experience with Chidaine was that the '08s and '10s were great, and well priced. Various reds and roses over the years have also been very good (those are more in the refreshing/vin de soif mold than anything serious though). However, a mixed lot of '14s has, since release, shown some interesting wines and some totally flawed and failed wines. Notes on CT show this as well. Failures have ranged from oxidized, yellow, completely flawed wines to wines that were just not as fresh and lively as they should have been. Even thinking back to the earlier vintages I recall a good deal of variability between showings of the same wine. Sometimes great, then in short order another that was rather meh. The value proposition is good so it’s worth buying, but to my mind there is definite inconsistency.
Chidaine of course, but also try Mai et Kenji Hodgson, who makes a stupendous Chenin. If you really want laser acidity and mineral with little fruit, try Sandlands Chenin. I don’t really like that style, but it seems right up your alley.
Adding another data point: I had my first Vouvray a couple of weeks ago and loved it. Vincent Careme Vouvray 2015 Vouvray, Loire. It was weird (in a good way) variety of fruits with interesting cheese and bruised apple flavor, moderate acidity (probably not the high level of acidity that you’re looking for). I’ve been meaning to try more Chenin Blanc but just haven’t gotten around to it. I linked this month’s NYT wine school about Savennieres if anyone is interested (Thibaud is one of the recommendations). Might be a fun theme for a get together.
Huet was at one time the largest producer in the wines I hold. At the low-mid 20’s price point, I thought it was one of the wine word’s great buys. The demis aged wonderfully, too.
I still love it, but don’t consume much chenin now. Chidaine is great for the price point, IMHO. Sad to hear there has been problems with them.
Not a single mention of Baumard? I remember picking up the 2002 regular bottling at Costco on release for $15 and absolutely loving it. Other higher end bottlings are sure to be even better.
The good news is that you can get fantastic Chenin for well under $100, particularly for the dry bottlings. For sweet wines you could also throw Rene Renou in the mix.
Nearly all of my favorite Chenin producers have already been mentioned in this thread, but I will mention Frantz Saumon since he has not been mentioned yet. Plus, if you understand a little French, his labels can be quite funny.
Having said that, Francois Pinon is in my opinion making the best value Chenin out there today. The dry and off-dry wines are selling from $20-25 per bottle, and equal in quality the other Chenin producers mentioned in this thread which sell for more, sometimes double. I’ve been buying less Huet since the new regime took over, and a lot more Pinon.
But having said that (here I go again), there really is nothing like a great bottle of old (and I mean really old) Huet.
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