Three White Grapes

WINE TALK
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Focusing on white only (excluding bubbly and sweet):

  • In cellar: 20% Chenin behind Chardonnay at 35%. Sémillon hovers at 5% and I don’t own any Pinot Blanc.


  • Consumed: 13% Chenin behind Chardonnay at 28%. Sémillon with a lowly 1% and Pinot Blanc below 1%.
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One of the best wines I’ve had this year that really blew me away was a Matthiasson Semillon from 2016. Not sure if it was just the night that we had it or it was with a perfect food pairing but I want to get my hands on another to find out.

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Thanks to all of the people who have participated so far.

Clearly among this cohort, Chenin Blanc is by far the favorite. I have had quite a bit of dry Loire Chenin. I agree that Joly’s famous (and expensive) Coulee de Serrant can be great but is horribly inconsistent. A 1990 about 10 years ago was a very great bottle. I’ve had about half a dozen other vintages, ranging from almost as good as the 1990 to undrinkable. I agree that Clos de la Bergerie is consistently good.

I’ve had great Hunter Valley Semillon, but for some reason it is hard to find in the U.S. Oddly, I have more Semillon in my basement than either Pinot Blanc or Chenin. This is because I represent an Argentine producer who makes a great one at a very reasonable price. Much as I love and admire Pinot Blanc, I don’t even have one in my book at this time. We gave up our last Alsace agency about 5 years ago, sales were simply far too hard.

However I am more of a fan of Pinot Blanc. Until I was introduced (by the board!) to Terlano ‘Vorberg’ I used Pinot Blanc as an everyday alternative to Chardonnay. However ‘Vorberg’ is great wine. Period. I am going to be diving into the Alto Adige more for other examples and when in Europe will be looking for more examples, especially with bottle age.

Thanks again.

Dan Kravitz

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Rounding error. [snort.gif]