Who plants Chenin Blanc on Howell Mountain these days? Super cool! Made in a dry style, and more structured than the Loire Valley Chenins (no surprise there). Get peach and green apple skins, honey, pears and mandarin orange. Aging on its lees (dead yeast and “pulp” leftover from fermentation) adds a pleasing French pastry flavor on the finish. While I am not going to choose this over a top-notch Loire Valley Chenin, it is a delicious white wine with more character and quality than most Napa Chardonnays at a similar price.
QTR is primarily a high-end Cabernet producer. All their wine is made from their Howell Mountain Estate vineyard. They have less than an acre of Chenin Blanc…Chappellet budwood grafted onto existing vines in 2015.
