Inside Scoop SF » On the hunt for Chenin Blanc

Inside Scoop SF » On the hunt for Chenin Blanc

But too often I find the wines unfocused. When it is bone dry — even better when it’s sparkling — it can be the stuff of wonders. But some people just don’t like Chenin (I think it’s those piney notes) and unlike the nutters who don’t like Riesling, in this case I can’t blame them.
So goes my difficult relationship. Just last week during a single dinner at Nopa, I managed to taste both the brut sparkling Vouvray and the dry 2010 Haut-Lieu bottle from Domaine Huet, arguably the world’s greatest producer of Chenin Blanc. The brut was snappy and proper, the Haut-Lieu so wound up that it won’t be interesting for another five years. So it goes with Chenin.