Monday, November 2, 2009

Hidden Leaf Chenin Blanc - 5.0

This post is a review of of Hidden Leaf Cellars Chenin Blanc from California. Hallie is doing a wonderful job of modeling for us!
I don't know anything about Chenin, so I checked out the wiki page.

"Chenin blanc (also Pineau de la Loire and Gout fort), is a variety of white wine grape variety from the Loire valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled."

Interesting that is says that about the acidity, because the first thing I thought when I tasted it was, "Wow, thats sour." The general rule for wines (I think) is that the sweeter the wine is, the more sour/acidic it should be. However, this is only mildly sweet. The sourness kind of dominates the flavor. Its not vinegary, it just seems really acidic. If I had to pick flavors off of my color wheel, I'd say olive and asparagus. That sounds pretty bad, but its really not. I wish the olive and asparagus flavors were stronger and the acidity less strong.

How come every wine description that I read uses fruits and dessert flavors? I suppose "sauerkraut", "wet-dog", and "soy-sauce" aren't real appealing to the recreational wine taster, but about 2/3 of the wine wheel is being completely ignored. Don't worry, I'm here to bring it back!

Jaime says: "It has a bit of tartness, but nothing overwhelming". "I like the flavor, but it doesn't have as much sweetness as I'd like."

Peter gives this wine a 4 out of 10. I probably wouldn't purchase this wine unless I saw it in the $3.99 bin.
Jaime gives this wine a 6 out of 10. "I would drink this, but I wouldn't go looking for it in a store."

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