What a few dollars more will get you - Vin de Pays Loire Valley Chenin Blanc

In our last post, we explored what $4.50 will get you in California Chenin Blanc. The answer - a sweet yet palatable wine perfect for pleasing a large gathering of people with unknown wine preferences. But as I wandered the local Walmart of wine stores looking for 5 dollar finds, I kept asking myself, "I wonder how much farther a couple more dollars get will get me?"

In fact, I would put money that this is probably the most (internally) asked question of customers while in any wine shop!

Never to rebuke a personally proposed challenge, I decided to conduct a completely subjective, only semi-scientific experiment, as sitting right above my Beringer was a $8 dollar bottle of Chenin Blanc all the way from its hometown of Loire Valley France.

The largest difference between these two cousins was apparent right way - the sugar level. The Loire Chenin was almost completely dry where as our Beringer buddy was definitely leaning towards dessert.

On the nose, this wine showcased similarities of both tree and tropical fruit - unspecific, but that should be expected in an under $10 selection. Minerality was also present, another difference forming between our new & old world counterparts. On the palate, these wine makers both extracted notes of pineapple, yellow apples, nectarine, and Asian pear. What was most noticeable is that this wine had more ripe fruit flavors even though this wine didn't have that backbone of sugar. This ripe fruit aspect was definitely where those $3 extra dollars cashed in.

Now, as I am an analyst in my day job, so lets break this down in a table:

Overall, while this wine was solid, drinkable, I actually would put it at equals with the $3 Double Dog Chardonnay. So, I guess that's our answer - No, a little extra money doesn't equal a little extra flavor.

Guess the journey continues...