WTN: '07 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier

This is a wine I've enjoyed in the past, so when I saw it on sale for $8.99 at a local market I figured I should at least pick up a bottle for evaluation purposes. This one is 80/20 Chenin/Viognier with 12.5% alcohol.

Very pale straw color. Faint nose of pear fruit. Clean, undistinguished entry that becomes quite acidic in the mid-palate. There's just a touch of fruit character but it's overwhelmed with acidity, a slight bitterness, and perhaps even a little tannic astringency. Finishes very tart and chalky with a lingering acidic burn.

This one doesn't do it for me. There's too little character to this wine - it reminds me a bit of old-style Cal Chenin (which is not a good thing). In the past, there's been some nice fruit to balance things out a bit but it doesn't seem to be there in this bottle. I hate to sound like someone who complains about over-oaked, over-ripe white wines and then complains when they're not over-oaked or over-ripe, but this really needs a little something more to it. I'd take the Wilson Chenin or any of several other Clarksburg versions over this one.

This is a wine I've enjoyed in the past, so when I saw it on sale for $8.99 at a local market I figured I should at least pick up a bottle for evaluation purposes. This one is 80/20 Chenin/Viognier with 12.5% alcohol.
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This one doesn't do it for me. There's too little character to this wine - it reminds me a bit of old-style Cal Chenin (which is not a good thing).

That is disappointing, Mike, as I too have enjoyed earlier versions of this wine. Did you notice whether it still bears the Clarksburg AVA designation? Is it possible that Pine Ridge lost their source? What I recall most about this wine was the strong pear fruit flavors, so I was surprised and gratified to see you use that descriptor.

Mark Lipton

You might have it there, Mark. It's now from California rather than Clarksburg. I couldn't remember whether that was the earlier designation or not.

Thanks for the note, Mike. I tried the 2008 version recently and actually did find it rather characterful. At first, I was actually a bit overwhelmed by all the peach, canteloupe and gooseberry aromas it was throwing around, but after a while I sort of relaxed and let it do its thing. I agree that this is quite nervy and acidic on the palate--it makes the mouth water and even pucker a bit, but again after a while I got used to it and found it to sort of flesh out and find better balance. It crammed a lot of flavor in (green grapes, melon, peach, gooseberry, watermelon) but was really defined by that bracing acidity. It could just be that this is a wine that needs to be drunk right after release to get the full QPR?

-Michael

I recently had this wine at a party, although I don't recall the vintage. My experience was more like Michael's, and I found it to be a lovely wine for not much money that was really well liked and drew a lot of positive comments at the party.

Mike and Matt -

That sounds much more like the Pine Ridge I knew and loved. This bottle was completely missing all of that melon/peach/grape and that left only the acidic stuff.

You give me hope that not all is lost, though. At $8.99, I can go back for one more to see if it was just an off bottle.