It has aromas of fresh orchard fruit, currants, citrus oil and beeswax, and is medium-bodied with a clear, sharp impression.
It has a delicate texture, depth in the mid-palate, and a long finish with saltiness and acidity.
With an alcohol content of just under 12%, this is the most delicate vintage Beau Rivage has ever produced, but because it was a low yield year the sugar content remained low while still achieving full flavor, resulting in a wine with a very rich aromatic character despite its youth.
"2019 was the ripeest vintage between 2017 and 2019, with the alcohol content rising to 12.4%.
In the mouth, it has more volume and texture than usual, but still retains its invigorating freshness.
Rather, this vintage has a saltier flavor than usual.
By thoroughly removing the noble rot grapes, we have created a Chenin Blanc with a very classic aroma.
One of Beau Rivage's concepts is to produce high-quality wines by carefully cultivating and brewing grapes, even in areas that are not famous for their grapes.
Although 2019 was not a perfect vintage, it was a year in which this concept came to fruition.
" - WK, January 2021This wine was made from organically grown fruit in Clarksburg, California, where the soil is mineral-rich and alluvial.
Despite its inland location, Clarksburg is cooler than much of Napa Valley due to the cooling ocean breezes.
To preserve the freshness of the grapes, they are harvested by hand early in the morning.
After careful selection, the grapes in sunny locations where the skin is highly ripe are crushed and then pressed, while the grapes in the shade are pressed whole bunches.
The wine is left to rest for a period of time to remove any solids, then fermented in old barrels made by coopers such as Damy, Stockinger or Gauthier, in demi-muids (500-600L), or in stainless steel tanks, after which it is aged on the lees with a minimum of batonnage.
Good wine is essential in life.
Beau Rivage's goal is to combine organically grown fruit with artisanal winemaking techniques to create classically balanced, affordable wines.
Our search for a grape with robust flavor, medium alcohol content, and a value that was responsibly grown led us to Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg, California.
With its picturesque tree-lined banks, winding waterways, and sprawling orchards in the Sacramento Delta, Clarksburg's laid-back pace of life makes it feel like a throwback to rural California.
But Clarksburg is one of the best places in North America to grow Chenin Blanc.
Just as what is now Bordeaux-Médoc was reclaimed by Dutch civil engineers in the 17th and 18th centuries, Clarksburg all began when engineers from the Holland Land Company, a group of a dozen Dutch investors, developed the marshes in the early 20th century.
Chenin Blanc is well suited to the mineral-rich sedimentary soil formed when hundreds of tons of earth and rock from the gold rush mines washed into the sea, and so vineyard planting began in the early 1960s.
Winemaker William Kelly earned a PhD in History from Oxford University and then worked harvesting grapes in Burgundy and California while writing for Decanter Magazine.
He currently reviews Burgundy and Champagne for Wine Advocate magazine.
Chenin Blanc is a grape variety that originally originated in the central Loire region of France.
Due to William's work, Beau Rivage's wines are inevitably influenced by producers from the Côte de Beaune and elsewhere.
Beau Rivage is fermented in old barrels or large 500-600L wooden barrels made by some of France's leading coopers, and is then aged on the lees.
It was inspired by conversations with Jean-François Coche, Arnaud Ant and Klaus Peter Keller, among others.
In California, Tegan Passalakwa of Sandlands and, above all, Terry Layton of Karin Cellars are the inspiration behind the style and craft of Beau Rivage wines.