Discover Field Recordings Chenin Blanc 2024 – The Under-$20 Central Coast Maverick Gem!

Speaker 1
0:04

Hey
,

welcome

Domain

Dave

here

from

CheapWineFightercom
.

Another

wine

review
.

Today

we

have

one

of

my

favorites

that

I

didn't

know

was

a

favorite

until

I

drank

it

Field

Recordings
,

shannon

2024
.

Just

last

year

Found

it

for

$14.99
,

though

I

think

it

lists

higher

than

that
.

Field

Recordings

is

Andrew

Jones

Jones
.

Speaker 1
0:29

He

was

a

field

man
,

which

meant

that

he

would

travel

the

the

Central

Coast

looking

for

underused

or

maybe

overgrown

vineyards

and

he

would

keep

vineyards

up

and

in

2007

he

started

to

make

his

own

wine
.

It's

Wonderwall

Fiction

and

Field

Recordings
.

They're

all

very

good

wines

and

they

kind

of

get

great

press

and

the

very

first

single

varietal

he

did

was

Chenin

Blanc
,

the

Chenin
,

and

that

was

in

2007
.

And

now

you

know

all

this

time

later

he's

still

making

it

and

he's

got

great

sourcing

time
.

Later

he's

still

making

it

and

he's

got

great

sources
.

Every

vineyard

he

used

was

planted

in

the

70s

and

most

of

them

were

planted

at

chennai

blanc

vineyards
.

This

was

before
.

You

know
,

in

the

70s

in

the

wine

the

world

we

know

today

wasn't

really

happening
.

It

was

in

Sonoma
,

napa

maybe
,

but

other

places

not

so

much
.

Part

of

it

comes

from

the

Chalone

Vineyard
,

which

is

the

oldest

still

producing

vineyard

in

the

Central

Coast
,

and

Chalone

wines

are

seriously

good

wines
.

If

you

ever

have

the

opportunity

to

drink

those
.

The

Jurassic

Vineyard

and

the

well
,

I

can't

think

of

the

third

one
,

but

there's

three

really

good

50

year

old

vineyards
.

They're

gonna

take

a

sip
.

Speaker 1
2:00

Now
,

chateaubriand

Blanc

is

a

grape

that

can

be

used

a

lot

like

Chardonnay
.

You

can

have

it

un-oaked
,

you

can

have

it

oaked
,

you

can

do

malolactic
,

you

can

make

it

in

different

styles
,

you

can

make

it

into

sparkling

wine
.

Chenin

does

all

that

too
.

But

the

problem

is

with

Chenin

I

don't

know

if

it's

a

problem

is

that

every

winemaker

kind

of

has

a

different

style
.

With

Chardonnay

you're

either

doing

the

classic

California

style

or

the

Burgundy

style
.

I

mean
,

most

winemakers

use

those

two

things
.

And

you

know

Chardon

Blanc

doesn't

really

have

a

classic

style
.

It

is

a

classic

wine

in

France

but

everybody's

making

a

difference

so

it's

hard

to

grab

onto

something
.

So

you

never

know

what

you're

gonna

get
.

And

with

Chateauneuf
,

for

me
,

one

time

I'll

have

one

and

I

go

oh
,

this

is

great

wine
.

You

know
,

I

really

love

this

and

I'll

have

another

one

for

a

different

producer

and

it'll

be

yeah
,

I

don't

know
.

So

this

is

really

kind

of

interesting
.

Speaker 1
3:01

He

got

the

grapes

and

he

brought

it

into

his

winery

and

they

pressed

them

straight

into

a

barrel
.

This

is

barrel

fermentation

using

natural

yeast
.

It

just

spontaneously

started

fermenting

Kind

of

cool
.

You

don't

really

see

that

in

under

$20

wines
.

And

the

natural

yeast
,

the

yeast

floats

around

the

air

and

usually

that

happens

when

you're

you

got

a

wine

where

it's

attached

to

a

vineyard
,

cause

that's
.

But

this

came

from

different

places

and

it

still

happened
.

I'm

gonna

take

another

sip
.

Speaker 1
3:42

Then

he

used

either

neutral

barriques

a

a

break

is

the

bordeaux

barrel

that

everybody

knows
.

Neutral

means

it's

been

used

so

often

that

you're

not

getting

any

flavor

from

it
,

but

you

still

get

the

effects

of

the

barrel
.

Uh
,

and

the

aging

the

wine
.

They

age

it

for

four

months

and

then

they

used

a

thousand

liter

german

butter
,

which

is

a

butter

is

an

old

measure

and

I

have

no

idea

what

a

thousand

liters

is
.

It

could

be
.

I

know

a

liter

of

pop

is
.

You

know

so
,

but

it's
.

He

imported

these

old
,

these

new

German

barrels

that

he
,

that

he

put

this

wine

in
,

and

then

most

of

these

German

barrels

are

for

Riesling
.

These

are

the

kind

of

barrels

that

your

fancy

Rieslings

from

the

Moselle

are

made

in
.

So

you've

got

this

naturally
,

spontaneously

fermented

Chenin

Blanc

from

Elite

Vineyards

made

in

this

kind

of

funky

old

style

with

barrels

and

the

techniques

that

I

haven't

heard

of

before
,

not

that

I

would
.

Speaker 1
4:50

We

talk

about

cheap

wine
.

Things

are

pretty

much

simple
.

Simple

helps

with

cheap
.

I

like

this

wine
.

It

starts

out

smooth

and

the

flavors

kind

of

bloom
.

This

isn't

a

flashy

Chateaubriand

at

all
,

it

just

kind

of

sneaks

up

on

you
.

It's

really

kind

of

pretty
.

Flavors

are

all

flavors

you're

going

to

get
.

There's

peach
,

pear
,

there's

melon
,

there's

apple
,

there's

maybe

stone

fruit
,

a

little

bit

of

apricot
.

I

was

getting

dried

pineapple

bits

and

that

type

of

thing

with

it
.

All

nice

flavors
.

He

said

he's

like

really

in

the

pocket
.

This

is

only

11.9

in

the

alcohol
,

which

is

kind

of

low
,

but

it's

kind

of
,

you

know
,

riesling

style
.

Speaker 1
5:39

If

this

is

made

in

the

Riesling

style
,

I

don't

know

if

I

can

say

that
.

So

it's

a

really

delicious

Chenin

Blanc
.

You

know
,

like

I

said
,

I

never

know

what

I'm

going

to

get
.

So

you

really

got

to
.

If

you

find

a

Chenin

you

like
,

remember

what

it

is
.

Take

a

picture
,

label

something

because

you're

going

to

want

to

go

back

to

that

one

Because

the

next

one

might

not

be

the

same
.

And

you

know
,

just

because

you

don't

like
.

It

doesn't

mean

it's

not

a

good

Chenin
.

Somebody

else

probably

loves

it
,

but

I

think

this

is

one

that

I

really

like

and

I'm

going

to

go

back

to
.

Speaker 1
6:14

This

is

a

really

good

shannon

block

and
,

uh
,

it's

the

field

recordings
,

shannon

2024
.

It's

a

delicious

wine
,

uh
,

from

a

really

good

winemaker

from
,

and

I

really

uh

think

it's

a

good

one
.

I

think

it's

something

you

should
,

if

you

can

find

it
.

Uh
,

15

bucks

is

really

good

for

it
,

because

it's

like

I

said
,

it's

from

elite

vineyards

with

some

kind

of

very

intentional

wine

making
.

This

is
,

and

a

lot

of

times
,

under

20
.

It's

quick

and

easy
.

Make

it

as

easy

as

you

can
.

That's

the

best

way
.

That's

not

a

bad

way

to

make

these

wines
.

This

one's

got

intentionality

to

it

and

it

works

and

it

tastes

great
.

So
,

adios
,

keep

it

cheap
.

I've

got

another

peanut

noir

coming

up

in

a

couple

of

days
,

so

stay

warm

and

I'll

be

talking

to

you
,

adios
,

bye
,

bye
.