The Lenoirs produce some of my favorite Chinons, and this lovely mature example is a fantastic example. Color shows some bricking but is otherwise a vibrant, lovely Cab Franc purple. Incredibly silky texture but with some interesting grittyness that I guess comes from the unfiltered character? Flavors include the tell-tale green pepper, but only as an element, even perhaps an underpinning, complementing the delicious earthyness and the red plum fruit. I simply love the earthy richness of mature Lenoir wines!
Sadly, the wines are not large production and they appear to be steadily selling out at source after source in the Bay Area. Hopefully Punchdown has a few more bottles left!
