Aromatic but bone dry Chenin Blanc from Sonoma, California. On the nose it shows lovely aromas of peach skin and a hint of apricot, as well as candle wax and dried flowers. The palate follows on similarly, and the finish is long and complex — mineral and lightly textured with well-balanced acid.
Winemaker and owner Leo Hansen is based on the outskirts of Healdsburg in Sonoma County, and makes fewer than 1,000 cases per year from single plots across California, from Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Mendocino.
It was his belief that California wasn’t producing enough food-friendly wines that led him to seek out the oldest Chenin Blanc vines he could find, starting Leo Steen Wines in 2004. In 2006, he made his first vintage from a 1981-planted plot of Chenin Blanc in Dry Creek Valley. Steen is his family’s middle name, and coincidentally the Afrikaans name for the grape variety. This, combined with his love of Chenin Blanc, felt like the perfect name for his winery.
Leo seeks out vineyards from across California that are farmed sustainably, and ideally organically or biodynamically. He produces only single vineyard wines, with a focus, where possible, on old vines. He uses very little new oak and strives for wines with moderate alcohol.