2017 Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg (5/10/2023)
Almost through 2 cases of this wine...last bottle over a year ago was showing the ox, which was the first time I wasn't thrilled with it. Well...as Mark Twain once said..."The reports of my death..." This bottle is back to the brilliancy of this wine! Age has brought on a more honeyed creme to the pitted orchard fruits...still cut with a vein of lemon/grapefruit sours...but what I REALLY dig is this smokey crushed rock minerality...really savory and chalky with a dried white flower extract...and making no guesses to the varietal with classic lanolin oil and a waxiness that I just LOVE in my whites. Still possesses wonderful harmony and balance, and with each sip, something to ponder. Wife was going to use some of this for cooking...HELL no now! Great bottle! (95 points)
I think they are really different. The 17 has always been a little more reductive and drinks to me like Guiberteau. I’ve been through 6 or 8 of them. Just popped a 20 last week. I found it a little more linear, less ripe fruit, with tart acidity. It drank to me a little more like a Boudignon in some ways. I liked both wines but remain an unabashed fan of the original release.
I’m with you on the Guiberteau reference for 2017, but I don’t know Boudignon so can’t comment, although I think savennieres is appropriate as a comparison. I mentioned in my ct note that it brought me to Pepiere Briords which I think you agreed with!
I do indeed agree with you, my brain went the same direction yours did I think. But for an apples to pommes comparison I went with Boudignon as those wines can be quite coiled, acid driven, and gastronomic. Especially the white label Anjou à Françoise.
If you haven’t tried those wines and liked the 20 Beau Rivage, I couldn’t recommend them to you more highly. Especially the single vineyards, but even the black label Anjou Blanc is pretty stellar.
Seems like the Beau Rivage threads could be merged as I’d love to have William speak to the evolution of the grapes and winemaking. I think he tends to like each release a little more. I thought that 18 was a little more blousy and fleshy and 19 had great concentration and extract.
