Pine Ridge's Unexpected Gem: The Chenin Blanc Viognier Blend

Ever wonder what happens when a prestigious Napa Valley winery known for $100+ Cabernets creates an affordable white wine? Pine Ridge's Chenin Blanc Viognier blend shatters expectations at just $11.99, delivering complexity and refinement that punches well above its modest price tag.

This delightful anomaly in Pine Ridge's portfolio combines 80% Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg with 20% Viognier from Lodi to create something both accessible and sophisticated. The Chenin Blanc brings versatility and character—a grape capable of everything Chardonnay can do, from crisp freshness to age-worthy complexity. Meanwhile, the Viognier contributes its signature aromatic lift and bright acidity, resulting in a harmonious blend that breaks you out of the usual white wine routine.

What makes this wine particularly special is how Pine Ridge applies premium winemaking techniques typically reserved for their high-end offerings. They harvest slightly early to maintain balance and moderate alcohol (11.5%), and incorporate free-run juice—the highly prized first juice that flows naturally before pressing. The result is a beautifully balanced wine showcasing melon, lemon, peach, apple, nectarine, and tropical fruit notes without becoming overwhelming or one-dimensional.

When you're tired of predictable grocery store whites but don't want to spend a fortune, reach for this bottle. It demonstrates that sometimes the most interesting wines come from established producers stepping outside their comfort zones. While prices may vary slightly by market, it frequently goes on sale and consistently delivers remarkable value. Try it alongside your next seafood dish or enjoy it on its own—either way, you'll wonder why Chenin Blanc remains underappreciated in the American wine scene.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier
• 1:26 The Versatility of Chenin Blanc
• 3:31 Wine Production Techniques
• 5:35 Final Thoughts and Value Assessment

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

hey, welcome, it's a domain dave. Again, again and again and again from cheapwinefindercom. We write up um a review for value price wine on the cheapwinefindercom website. Been doing that since, I think, 2008 I've forgotten by now and then we plug in the microphone. Well, actually it's always plugged in, but yeah. Well, here we are and today we've got a wine I found for 11.99. It's the pine ridge chenin blanc, vna 2020 4.

Speaker 1: 0:34

Pine ridge is a napa valley winery out of stag's leap, who normally does bordeaux inspired wines. This is the one wine that is kind of, but not really out of their, out of their usual line of wines, and the reason is because it's not really well. One is because it's affordable and Napa Valley Stag Leap's wines tend to be, you know, a quality price and a quality wine. But this wine is the Chenin Blanc is. 80% of the wine is Chenin Blanc and it's that's from Clarksburg, ava. The other 20% is V&A and that's from Lodi, and Lodi is kind of a Mediterranean style place and that's in the south. V&a is from the southwest of France, which is Mediterranean. The thing about Chenin Blanc Chenin Blanc is from the lower valley of France and it's also a very important wine from South Africa. South Africa's whole wine industry, especially their white wine, is kind of centered around growing Chenin Blanc and it's very individualistic wine from there. And it was a few years back it was kind of like found that Clarksburg, which is south and a little east of Napa, is an ideal place to grow Chenin Blanc vines and that in time, because the winemakers have to figure out what to do with it it's going to be elite, but right now they're still getting $11.99 wines but the winemakers are starting to figure out what to do with it.

Speaker 1: 2:15

Let me take a sip. Chenin Blanc is kind of the forgotten wine. It does everything Chardonnay can do. You can have it un-oaked. You can have it oaked. You can have it be fresh, young wine that you drink right away. You can put it away for 20 years. It goes in blends, it goes by itself. It makes outstanding bubbly. It's one of those wines. And another thing is everywhere, everywhere it grows, it comes out just a little bit different, and that's one of the things it's. I don't know if you call it a downfall, but you find a chenam block you like and you don't remember the name and you buy another one. It's not the same. So it's one of those wines that when you, when you get when you like, take a picture of the label, it's pretty good.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Vna. Vna is usually a blending grape. It has a great nose. It is added to wine all the time. That is kind of, uh, this doesn't have a good scent and it needs some oomph. And plus it has really good acidity, so it just brightens everything up, including the nose. If you put your nose on a wine before you sip it, it smells great. Well, you're going to think it tastes great too most of the time. And now what else?

Speaker 1: 3:35

Vina, vna is actually allowed to be put in red wine in australia. I mean, it's it. It gives that much zip that it it's not just a white, it'll give a red wine a zip. So the two of these two wines, two grapes together, are a good pairing. And it's a good pairing and it's not the same old same old. This is not the usual, but they both taste in a way that you've had before. I mean, they put the flavors together in a different way, but nothing is like what the heck is that you know. You're not confused as soon as you drink it. I'm going to take another sip. You know what it is. But it's not the same old stuff. Like I said, it's not your usual wine. It kind of breaks you out of your rut and it tastes great. I mean it's just full flavored they.

Speaker 1: 4:32

They picked a little bit early so it wouldn't have too much sugar and too much alcohol. It's 11.5 and they did a couple little things. They use some. They blended free run juice into it. Free run juice is the juice when you put the grapes into the um the press. Before you press it, the weight will cause juice to come out and this is thought to be the best of the juice.

Speaker 1: 4:57

Why, I don't really know. How does it? How does a grape know what you release first? I don't know. But that is a high-end um napa valley. A lot of napa valley red wines are all free run juice. They sell the second juice. They put the second or the actually the first press into their second blend. They sell that off. So this wine has some elite um procedures done to it.

Speaker 1: 5:22

So, like I said, it tastes great, tastes great. It's got full flavor, it's got melons and lemons and peach and apple and nectarine and what else we got. We've got pineapple and tropical fruit, but it's balanced. You know it's not just a fruit bomb, it's just flavorful wine with a great nose and that's well-made. What more do you ask for?

Speaker 1: 5:51

And I found at $11.99,. That might be a little low. It might be a few bucks more expensive most places, but it is on sale often. So there you go. It's the Pine Ridge Schoenblank V&A 2024. It's a good wine at any price. I mean you can put it up against $30 wines. It'll hold its own. I mean it's every wine has its own place, but this wine, as an inexpensive wine, is a very good wine. You know you don't get a very good $30 wine the same as a very good $12 wine. It all works out. So there you go, Keep it cheap. This is Domain Dave. Like us where you like your podcast, if you will. I'll be talking to you in a couple of days. Adios, I'll be seeing you. Bye-bye.