2019 Dry Chenin Blanc Dry Creek Vineyard

A dry Chenin Blanc takes sands to produce. This dry white was produced from mature California vines. An intriguing factor is wine color, yellow straw; its nose is hay or straw. But how many wine drinkers know what straw is, how it is made, or the many uses?

“Straws” are used in beverages; what folks hold is a man-made utensil of paper or plastic. Natural straws are the part that hold up seed crops such as wheat, barley, oats, etc. Straw is the by-produce after threshing the grain from the chaff.

Historically with the invention of the steam engine, a giant thresh machine was used during harvest. These old thresh machines were used by America’s farmers until the late 1930’s. I remember watching them work in fields. The things were monstrous, hard to move, position Its outer shell was tin. Its interior works had moving shuttles and paddle’s. There were lots of different functioning parts: While the shuttles were shaking and paddles were beating, one pipe tossed straw into a lone stack; the grain fell into a separate bin.

Setting up one of these was no easy task. First this cumbersome machine was moved to a strategic part of the field. A steam tractor, with a fly-wheel, was brought next to it; the tractor was rendered stationery. A very heavy belt was attached form tactor to thresher. The tractors steam power muscles the thresher’s parts. The grain is loaded into wagons, while the straw gets used for animal feed.

In today’s farming, a single combine does all the separating as it’s driven along rows of grain. None-the-less, straw remains straw.

Taste= 3: The nose first came out as floral, but switched to a dry hay. The green apple was there followed by some lemon-lime. However, another aroma dusted up from the straw. It took a bit of hunting until Mushroom came to the fore. This dry chenin blanc had a darned vegetable hidden in it. That and the rock mineral gave it a dry quality. Now, that was a lot of fun.

Looks=3: The color is a straw yellow. It was good that there was real white wine in bottle, lest we find dust and sand. Legs were light, which was expected. This winemaker used a twist-off cap, very fitting in place of a composition cork. The label is attractive with a sail boat in the Pacific. The Winery is located west of Sacramento.

Cost=1: Here’s an E-Z to drink, E-Z to enjoy. Because of its mature grapes and the winemaker’s fermentation process, this ’19 Chenin Blanc is a bit different from the traditional wine.