Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc 2018

The wine is drawn from some of Clarksburg’s oldest vines, planted in the 1960s and sourced from a long-term organic grower. Kelley oversees harvest by hand and makes the wine alongside his friend and partner Frank Ingriselli, who also manages the aging. The grapes are picked in two lots. Grapes from the sunny side of the vine are crushed (to release extract), with the fruit from the more shaded side being whole cluster pressed using a very long and firm cycle. The musts are then fermented wild and raised in old, low toast, Burgundy barrels that have seen eight vintages. Each year Kelley uses more and more solids, with the wines building texture and drive from their time on lees. From 2020, longer élevage again and more precision at harvesting (based on the experience of the previous years) come into play.

In 2019 yields were down by half, and you can feel the added concentration on the palate in the form of more volume and texture.

2018 was a comparatively late, cool growing season in Clarksburg, and this is reflected in this wine; the raciest and lowest alcohol Chenin that Beau Rivage has offered. It’s taut and tangy, with medium weight for now but plenty of length. Kelley notes, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it turn out to be the best of the three (2017-2019) in six or seven years.” Time will tell, but for now, it’s a fine, delicate Chenin that’s drinking beautifully, offering inviting scents of lanolin, citrus, herby botanicals and white flowers with a powdery, salty flourish on the finish. It’s bone dry with a firm, pithy texture and a mouthfeel charged by freshness, citrus-pith and crunchy fruit.