Day three: That’s when this white performed like Paul Giamatti in “Sideways” (still so pissed he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for that). Rounder fruit flavors like melon joined the citrus, the spice stuck around and the nose gained something that got really close to flowers.

I’ve read about great French chenin blancs that age for years and years. I’ve read about them, but I have to admit that I’ve never had them. I’ve had some tasty chenins from Vouvray, but not when they were old enough to drink themselves.

This may not be a 21-year ager, but it definitely deserves a few years in a decent cellar.

Honestly, I’m going out to get another couple bottles right now so that I can open one in 2007 and another in 2010. The chenins that age are usually the off-dry (residual sugar) ones, but I think this one will improve for at least a little while, comparatively speaking.

So, buy it and sock it away. Or, open it, pour a glass that you’ll drink in an hour or two, drink the rest over the next few days and watch the wine unfold like the plotline of “Memento” (only less backwardsy).

Either way, I’ll be this isn’t the last chenin blanc you buy. And I’m personally thrilled that I haven’t, in fact, been disappointed by an old friend.

Cheers,
TSW

I was so bummed when I first popped this bottle. Chappellet had never disappointed me – especially their chenin blanc. It was the perennial antidote to chardonnay overdose. It was the perfect summer wine for anyone that thinks Riesling is too sweet to be the perfect summer wine (they’re wrong, by the way, but that’s a topic for another review).

But this bottle, out of the gate, was about as summery as Morrissey. It was as expressive as Kevin Costner. It showed the complexity of Denise Richards.

Devastated in the way one is when his most dependable friend forgets to pick him up from the airport on his birthday, I re-corked the bottle, shoved it in the fridge and cried myself to sleep.

The next day, the wine had obviously thought about what it had done and was terribly sorry. The citrus fruit was brighter, there was a little spice in the mix. It had turned a corner to positively drinkable.

Sensing better things to come, like Dakota Fanning’s acting career, I again tucked this wine in the fridge (this time gassing it first with Vintner’s Preserve – great stuff) and waited another day, letting anticipation and fear of another letdown swirl in my head.