Grape Varietal - Chenin Blanc

Grape Varietal – Chenin Blanc

Commonly described as a chameleon wine, Chenin Blanc is known for it’s array of fruit characteristics and sweetness. Chenin Blanc is grown best in the Loire Valley in France and also in California. It is also one of the major white varieties grown in South Africa. This is one of the most widely planted grapes in the Loire Valley. In California the grape yields a very attractive soft light-bodied wine. It is usually made very dry or semisweet; it is a perfect aperitif wine, simple and fruity. This grape has called the Loire Valley its home for more than a millennium and it is known there by the common name as ‘Pineau’. This is a high acid grape and understandably produces a wine that is high in acidity. Chenin Blanc’s natural high acidity allows it to do well in the warm climate but it can be harmful in the climates that are naturally cooler. Once upon a time when Loire Valley and Chenin Blanc’s beautiful relationship had a falter was when Chenin Blancs grapes did not produce a sufficiently ripened grape and it resulted in a wine consisting of only acid and sulphur in the bottle, which would have normally been notably beautiful with accents of flowers and honey.

In the cooler climates, it maintains the acidity and balances well when made to be semi-sweet or sweet. Whenever it is grown in a warmer climate, the wine brings out more fruit and less of the acid crispness. Chenin Blanc is commonly tasted through apples, apricots, pears, nuts, and honey flavors. It is general described as grassy, light, honey, and floral. Chenin Blanc is best to pair with mild cheeses, all sorts of citrus fruits, any type of shrimp, veal, baked ham, and gamebird.

Normally growers have used a relatively decent amount of sulphur in order to stabilize the off-dry to medium-sweet wines. However, due to global warming the growers have relied less and less on using sulphur and added less of the chemical to their vineyards. Global warming has also helped their vineyards and they are seeing less unsuccessful vintages each year.

The most well known Chenin Blanc is a Moelleux, which is the product of a hazy autumn in Loire Valley and reaches a noble rot and influences a golden wine. It is known as a very complex botrytised wine and have the natural Chenin blanc grape flavor of crisp, honey, and the high acidity. These wines are often named as Bonnezeaux, Coteaux de l’Aubance, Coteaux du Layon, and Montiouis. The most intense examples of these producers are the Vouray and Quarts de Chaume. These variations are all good representations of this specific type, but they will also have their name on wines of lackluster that inhabit the sweetness and acidity but have nothing to wrap them together and give you the full experience. These are made by a low, slow fermentation in a large old oak or stainless steel container. There is no malolactic fermentation, nor any barrique ageing.

Chenin Blanc is commonly mixed with Chardonnay and sometimes Sauvignon Blanc; and Chenin Blanc is usually the bas and creates a delicate fizz not as strong as champagne, but subtle and allows a sense of bubbles. The natural high acidity of Chenin blanc allows it to be the perfect base in a sparkling wine.

These days there are far more Chenin Blanc vineyards planted in both California and South Africa than in France. In the 1970s and early part of the 1980s was when Chenin Blanc was introduced to California’s acreage due to the shortage of other white grapes, cause California to be somewhat dependent on the grape. Even more dependent on the Chenin Blanc varietal is the South African wine industry. It once represented one out of every three wines grown in South Africa.

Sources:

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/jrs03411.html

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