Alta Marfa, New Mexico (United States) Chenin Blanc 2021

 With a pretty, pale golden color, and ripe flavors of apple, pear and peach with a note of Meyer lemon zest, crisp, lively and easy to drink, you would never guess that it gave winemakers Ricky Tailor and Katie Jablonski a moment of worry.   It wasn’t the Chenin Blanc grapes from Forbidden Desert Vineyard.  They were machine-harvested, destemmed, crushed and pressed as usual.  But, during the fermentation in polyethylene tank and stainless steel barrel, the fermentation “stuck.”  It stopped before all the grape sugar had fermented out.  They tried everything they could think of to get it going again.  Finally, when they got a new batch of grapes from the 2022 harvest, they added some of that juice that jump restarted the fermentation, which successfully completed to dryness.  After 18 months aging in stainless steel and neutral oak, the wine was bottled.  They did not have to share this adventure with us, because the resulting wine is delicious.  However, I do appreciate their determination, ingenuity, candor and this yummy Chenin Blanc.