Bookwalter

2000″Ciel du Cheval ”
Columbia Valley
Chenin Blanc

In the heart of the Columbia Valley, Bookwalter Winery has been turning out juice for almost 20 years now. Since this region of Washington State is now completely exposed (the long kept secret finally got out) wine freaks from around the continent now know where to go for great taste and nice values.

This enticing Chenin Blanc is about $11 and delivers concentrated rich flavors to the forefront. It’s medium yellow-gold in color with a peach/pear nose and sweet, tangy, ripe honeydew melon freshness that is extremely nice and brings a full mouth coating texture to saturate your entire pie-hole. It slides past your molars and then leaves some deep mango fruit covered sponge cake flavors on the sides of your tongue and cheek just as a reminder of how good that last sip really was.


This is a style of Chenin Blanc I love. It has a gentle yet two-faced personality (cool and composed right before it slaps you in the kisser with a pineapple, ouch) and shows some balanced acid that makes this a winner by itself or with dinner. As it warms up in the glass it really starts to show a complex dried apricot zest and caramelized hints that show well as a perfect finish to this wine. It is made in limited quantities, as are many wines from the Red Mountain region of Columbia Valley.

At 4.0 % residual sugar this wine is showing a lot more balance than the numbers show. It has the classic Chenin Blanc acidity and focuses on the brilliant fruit flavors that mellow you out enough that you may forget you drank the whole bottle while cooking dinner; now what to drink with dinner? Open up another one pal, for $11 you are getting more than you paid for.

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