United States of Wine

Division Villages – L’Isle Vente – Columbia Valley – Chenin Blanc – 2022

Price: $26

I was torn between giving this wine to Oregon or Washington. Division Villages is based in Portland and make their wine in Oregon. But their grapes are grown in Washington’s Paul Church Vineyard in Yakima Valley.

But since a lot of wines are made away from where their grape are grown, and I can’t always find the source of the grapes, I decided to give it to where the wine is made.

This 2022 chenin blanc was a very light and clear yellow, more yellow than this image shows. On the warm day that I opened this bottle, it had a refreshing look as condensation appeared on the wine glass.

The wine had a very clean scent, with a slight smell of orchid fruits like guava and pear.

The taste of this chenin blanc surprised me. While it did carry the mouthful the chenin blancs have, it tasted like just a more flavorful sauvignon blanc from New Zealand than a typical chenin blanc.

The wine packs flavors of guava, peaches and pear, with a tartness. The acidity was almost just a little too much, and robbed the wine from minerality I should have tasted.

I learned that the 2022 vintage of Division’s first chenin blanc vintage and have a much better wine in their 2023 vintage. I’ll be looking for that one to try soon.

Score: 6.5/10