WTN: Leo Steen Chenin Blanc

Leo Steen 2018 Dry Creek Valley Chenin Blanc, Saini Vineyard. 13.0%, stainless steel fermentation, aged in neutral oak. New producer to me, picked up on a whim for $19 from a local shop, probably available for less elsewhere. Pale straw color with a lovely nose of jasmine and citrus zest; this has a pretty racy mouthfeel to balance some ripe apple/pear richness in the midpalate, and it finished crisp and with just a hint of minerality. Neither painfully austere nor lush (the latter of which I would have expected from a DCV white) and very good QPR. Apparently “Steen” is the winemaker’s middle name (and he’s Danish, not South African), which makes his work with Chenin a happy coincidence. Good stuff!

Patchen; he makes one also from Jurassic Vineyard in SBC that's his Chenin vin de garde, and it's often really impressive.