Chenin Blanc recommends

Baumard has been our house white for eight or nine years now. I miss the days when it was sub-$20, but even at current prices in the high $20’s, well worth it.

Loire Choice = Guiberteau Samur Blanc
USA Choice = Paumanok Chenin Blanc

Both are right around the $30 mark and they are consistently very good or better.

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This what I was going to recommend. Just bought a case. It is the sort of wine that will really appeal to serious wine people but also others, and at the price the latter is not a problem at all!!

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Domaine aux Moines Savennieres ‘Roche aux Moines’ 2019 was really good

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+1 for Sandlands

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Champalou Vouvray Sec generally runs about $22-$26 and makes an excellent porch pounder. It isn’t the driest Sec I have ever tasted, but it’s still crisp, refreshing, and of high quality.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Vouvray “Les Caburoches” used to be about $20.00. I haven’t seen it on the shelf in years, however, and if it’s still being made, it will be a Vin de France as a result of some ridiculous new AOC regulation. This is a bone dry wine full of minerals. Taille Aux Loups is a very underrated producer who makes wines that deserve a lot more attention than they get. He may or may not still have any wines under $30.00. Haven’t even seen the once ubiquitous Triple Zero brut on the shelf in several years. His wines are definitely worth a try if you find them at your desired price point.

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All good suggestions!

I would add Le Rocher des Violettes, since Jeff likes Montlouis - these are very subtle wines, rather than the new Anjou whites. In the latter style, I would imagine in that price range you could find one of the Ogereau wines mentioned in the other thread. Much as I love Château de Plaisance, I think the Ogereau Anjous are a smidgen better.

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Add a recommendation for Gros Ventre chenin. A winery that flies too far under the radar. Around $30 I think

Just tried a Vigneau-Chevreau Silex for the first time - and holy smokes is it good. I paid $15, and would happily have paid 3x that price. Sadly, my only bottle, but the '21 & '22 are available now. But fair warning - the price has gone up vertiginously – it’s now in the $18-19 range. :joy:

  • 2015 Domaine de Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Cuvée Silex - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (8/12/2023)
    Steely lemon on the nose, still fresh and young. Palate is tremendous, delivering a mouthful of dry extract, mineral depth, and juicy acid. A more linear and tightly coiled chenin than I was expecting - like a jaguar waiting to pounce. A bit angular and inscrutable on the mid-palate, with crushed rocks and lemon peel upfront, and just the barest hints of lanolin, stone fruit, and barley sugar on the end. What it lacks in complexity and roundness (for now), it makes up for in sheer stuffing. Insane QPR at $15 - one of the best values I’ve ever had. (93 points)

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Thanks for the recommendation, Vince.

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Another vote for South Africa. I randomly grabbed a bottle of 2020 Terre Brulee at Costco last weekend and we opened during the week. Holy QPR Batman!

Wife and I both said it might be the best $10 we’d ever had. I went back today and grabbed 12 more. Excellent daily drinker

Pinon’s sec + Buvez for sure (so long as you are ok w/ Vouvray’s definition of “sec”)

Baudry Domaine blanc is bone dry.

I think Hureau’s Argile fits the bill too.

Nadege Landelais’ Rue Aux Loups might be just a hair over $30.

Epire’s Savennieres clocks in at $23 or so, but perhaps a bit Savennieres-y vs. the other three I mentioned (A good thing IMO, but a bit different from laser-sharp dry mineral chenin).

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Yes QPR pretty well all through the price range.

Drinking a bottle right now. Given the description below, I feared it might be funky or oxidized, but that is not the case. Just slightly sweet, it is pleasant but nothing amazing. It could use more acidity and definition, but perhaps that is a function of the vintage. I liked the 2020 Pinon Vouvray Sec better and will not buy this one again. $27.

100% Chenin Blanc. This 2020 “Buvez du Bon Pinon” is a very special release from Julien Pinon, in honor of the preceding generations of the family. His great grandfather Camille planted the vines for “Bon Pinon” in 1945 on silex noir or “black flint” soils unique to their tiny corner of Vouvray, the northerly Vallée de Cousse. Fermentation and aging took place in the oldest wood in the cellar: port wine barrels bought by Julien’s grandfather Claude.The striking label is the original from Camille’s release back in the early 1950’s.

Mullineaux - “Kloof St.” Old Vines is fantastic, and is only $20.

Guiberteau’s entry level Saumur is about $30, and can also be excellent (in full disclosure, I’ve run into some frustrating bottle variation the past couple of vintages).

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I bought a bunch of 2022 MAN Vintners Chenin Blanc Free-Run Steen South Africa Cape Coast for $10 and have been very happy with it as a daily drinker. Kicks the living sh*t out of any $10 white I can find at a grocery store, that’s for sure!

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My two favorites right now -

CHENIN BLANC “Swartland” Secateurs - A.A. BADENHORST
VOUVRAY SEC - DOMAINE DU MARGALLEAU

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Chateau de Fesles

Dan Kravitz