WTN: lightly sweet Riesling, really sweet Chenin

Monday was vegetarian tacos, along with the 2009 Donnhoff Riesling (Nahe). Initially served too cold (my cellar is just beginning to creep down from summer high of 65) because I stuck in freezer for 10 minutes, which turned into 25 minutes.
A bit fuller this year, moderate sweetness, good acids, lime and grapefruit, some mineral. Very pleasant, but not my all time favorite version of the estate Riesling.. B/B+

Tuesday was a Singpore dish with fresh rice noodles with Chinese broccoli, shrimp, fish cake, sausage following an appetizer of fried shrimp wontons. I didn't want Riesling two nights in a row, but wanted something a little offdry to balance the chiles, sambal olek, etc. Hey, there's a Chenin off-dry, the 2005 Belliviere "L'Effraie" Coteaux de Layon. Whoa, I had forgotten how sweet this was (the 2004 was just off-dry). This could work as a dessert wine. Apples, pine needles, honey, orange peel. Powerful sweet Chenin, but horrible with the meal (luckily there was a bit of leftover Donnhoff). Big, sweet, almost hot though label says 13%. I liked the 2004 much more, next time this goes with cheese course. But even there could use a little more acidic zip. B- (D for food match)

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency. 

Well, that's what keeps life interesting - it seems most of the time I don't know what I thought I knew!

John

Hey, there's a Chenin off-dry, the 2005 Belleviere "L'Effraie" Coteaux de Layon. Whoa, I had forgotten how sweet this was (the 2004 was just off-dry). This could work as a dessert wine. Apples, pine needles, honey, orange peel. Powerful sweet Chenin, but horrible with the meal (luckily there was a bit of leftover Donnhoff). Big, sweet, almost hot though label says 13%. I liked the 2004 much more, next time this goes with cheese course. But even there could use a little more acidic zip. B- (D for food match)

Thanks for the warning, I have a 2006 of this and didn't know what to expect (I knew the Jasnieres Les Rosiers was off-dry, but thought this was drier). Might want to edit the name to Belliviere for search purposes.

edited, thanks.
I haven't have the 2006, but the 2004 was basically sec-tendre, so who knows

I've recently become a big fan of Belliviere. I really enjoyed the 2006 L'Effraie. Sweeter than I expected at first. Once I started pairing it with the proper food I enjoyed it more. I think the perfect pairing would be a cheese fondue.

I absolutely loved the 2006 Les Rosiers, which I place somewhere between dry and off dry. Beautiful wine.

The Rouge-Gorge (red) I wasn't such a fan of. I believe it is 100% Pineau d'Aunis. Not bad, but not to my taste. I suspected it wouldn't be a wine for me, but I'm glad I tried it and now I know what Pineau d'Aunis tastes like.

Matt, I enjoyed the 07 Rouge Gorge, so maybe I shouldn't suggest that you try the 07 La Tesnière from Puzelat, but the latter is probably the pineau d'aunis that I've enjoyed the most.