Chenin Blanc: The Grape That Makes Every Style

Chenin Blanc is a white grape from the Loire Valley of France whose high acidity lets it make sparkling wine, bone-dry wine, off-dry wine and dessert wine that outlives almost everything else in the cellar. Jancis Robinson calls it probably the world's most versatile grape, able to produce quality wine at any sweetness level, sparkling wine made by the méthode champenoise, and fortified wine, and she puts it forward as France's answer to German Riesling. That same acidity acts as a preservative: sweet Loire Chenin is among the longest-lived in the world of wine, and well-made examples from favourable vintages regularly have the potential to last at least 100 years. The catch is the other half of the story. Left to its natural vigour, the vine overcrops and gives bland, neutral wine. Loire regulations hold yields to 40-50 hl/ha. In fertile South African soils the same vine can hit 240 hl/ha.

Where does Chenin Blanc come from?

The Loire, and by a long way back. The French ampelographer Pierre Galet theorised that Chenin Blanc originated in the Anjou wine region in the 9th century and reached Touraine by at least the 15th. The name arrived later and came from a hill. When Thomas Bohier bought vineyard land around Chenonceaux on 3 January 1496, cuttings came in from Beaune in Burgundy, Arbois in the Jura, Orléans and Anjou. One of them, a white grape called Plant d'Anjou, was planted between 1520 and 1535 at a site called Mont Chenin in Touraine by the Lord of Château de Chenonceau and his brother-in-law Denis Briçonnet, the abbot of Cormery. Ampelographers believe Plant d'Anjou was much like Chenin Blanc, and the grape took the hill's name. By the 16th century it was already a major Loire variety, which is clear from the works of François Rabelais.

DNA work has since sorted out the family. Analysis in 1999 showed a parent-offspring relationship with the Jura grape Savagnin, and further evidence placed Chenin in a sibling relationship with Trousseau and Sauvignon Blanc, both likely offspring of Savagnin. That strongly suggests Chenin is the offspring and Savagnin the parent. Through the half-sibling link to Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin is an aunt or uncle variety to Cabernet Sauvignon, which is itself the offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Crossed with the Hunnic grape Gouais blanc, Chenin produced Balzac blanc, Colombard and Meslier-Saint-François. Crossed with Trebbiano in South Africa, it produced Weldra and Chenel. It has also been confused with grapes it is not related to, including the Portuguese Verdelho and the Spanish Albillo.

Where is Chenin Blanc grown, and how much of it is there?

South Africa grows the most of it. By the turn of the 21st century, twice as much Chenin Blanc was planted there as in France, and it is South Africa's most widely planted variety at nearly one fifth, 18.6%, of all vineyard plantings in the early 21st century.

Country	Chenin Blanc plantings	Year
South Africa	18,852 ha (46,580 acres)	2008
France	9,828 ha (24,290 acres)	2008
United States	2,923 ha (7,223 acres)	2010
Argentina	2,908 ha (7,186 acres)	2008
Australia	642 ha (1,586 acres)	2008
Spain	112 ha (280 acres)	2015
New Zealand	50 ha (124 acres)	2008

French plantings sit mostly in the Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Maine-et-Loire departments, with Anjou around Angers holding 5,044 ha in 2008. That is about 1.2% of all French plantings and a heavy fall from the 16,594 ha in cultivation in 1958, much of it uprooted in the 1970s in favour of Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and the easier Gamay. Within South Africa the plantings cluster in Paarl (3,326 ha), Swartland's Malmesbury (3,317 ha) and Olifants River (2,521 ha), all measured in 2008. In the United States, California had more acreage than France during the 1980s and has been shrinking since; Washington had 200 acres in 2012 and Texas 300 acres.

Jancis Robinson describes the grape leading a "double life". In the Loire it is prized as a premium variety capable of world-class wine. In many New World regions it is a "workhorse variety" that lends acidity to bulk white blends and shows little terroir. The exceptions are worth knowing: producers in Sacramento Valley's Clarksburg AVA make varietal Chenin with a musky melon aroma and the potential to age well, and James Halliday calls the Australian style "tutti-frutti" with pronounced fruit salad notes.

What styles does Chenin Blanc make?

All of them, and the appellation tells you which. Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume are made as sweet dessert wines. Savennières is the one Loire AOC that produces predominantly dry Chenin, because it gets less river fog and mist and more wind, which makes botrytis harder to establish. Anjou, Crémant de Loire, Coteaux de l'Aubance, Jasnières, Montlouis, Saumur and Vouvray run the full range from dry through semi-sweet to sweet. In the far north at Jasnières the grape is at its cultivation limit and the wines are mostly dry and thin.

The high acidity suits sparkling wine, and Chenin is an important component of Crémant de Loire, sparkling Vouvray and the Languedoc appellation of Limoux. In Crémant de Limoux it must account for at least 20% and up to 40% of the blend alongside Mauzac, Pinot noir and Chardonnay. In the basic Anjou, Saumur and Touraine designations, up to 20% Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc is permitted in what is otherwise a varietal wine.

Sweet Chenin owes its reputation to a market shift. In the 1980s, a run of favourable vintages in Sauternes drove prices up sharply as supply thinned against high demand, and drinkers who had acquired the taste looked to the Loire instead. Sauternes makes its sweet whites from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle affected by noble rot; the Loire answer is botrytised Chenin. A string of successful Middle Loire vintages through the 1990s produced highly rated noble-rot Chenins that Oz Clarke called the "standard-bearer" for the variety.

How does Chenin Blanc behave in the vineyard?

It buds early and ripens late, which is an awkward combination in a marginal climate and leaves it exposed to spring frost. Other hazards include powdery mildew and fungal disease affecting the wood structure of the vine, such as dead arm, both manageable with integrated pest management and rootstock selection. Six new clones sanctioned by the French government delay budding and increase sugar development during ripening.

Yield discipline is the whole game. Harvest too early and the acidity makes what Oz Clarke calls "one of the nastiest wines possible". Harvest at too high a yield and the varietal character disappears: at the California Central Valley average of 10 tons per acre, or 175 hl/ha, the flavours turn bland and neutral, while the Loire ceiling of 40-50 hl/ha brings out the floral, honeyed notes. Growers graft onto less vigorous Vitis riparia or Vitis rupestris rootstock and green-harvest excess clusters to keep the vine in check. Older vines help, because they crop lower naturally.

Picking is done in successive passes known as "tries", each taking only the ripest clusters or individual berries by hand, over four to six weeks and three to six passes through the vineyard. Some Vouvray producers run up to six: the first passes go to sparkling and dry wine, the last to sweet. Soil sets the register. Heavy clay favours weighty botrytised sweet wines that need age; sandy, well-drained soils give lighter wines that mature faster; high silex gives minerally notes; limestone gives sharp acidity; and Vouvray's argilo-calcaire produces rounded wines with both acidity and weight.

What does Chenin Blanc taste like?

The core descriptors are minerally, greengage, angelica and honey. Dry and semi-sweet Loire Chenin shows apple, greengage and chalky minerals that develop into honey, acacia and quince with age. Noble-rot versions start with peaches and honey and move towards barley sugar, marzipan and quince. New World styles, South Africa's above all, are usually made to drink young on rich tropical fruit: banana, guava, pear and pineapple. Dessert styles rarely exceed 12% alcohol, which keeps them in balance; drier styles run nearer 13.5%.

Cellar choices explain much of that split. Loire producers ferment warmer, around 60 to 68 °F (16 to 20 °C), while South African and other New World producers usually work at 50 to 54 °F (10 to 12 °C), because the cooler temperatures push the tropical fruit aromatics that Old World producers do not prize. Skin contact and maceration extract phenolics and bring out the greengage and angelica notes. Malolactic fermentation softens the acidity into a creamier texture, as does time on the lees. New oak is a producer-by-producer decision that Old World growers tend to avoid, though Savennières keeps a tradition of acacia and chestnut barrels: acacia can tint the wine yellow, chestnut can add buttery notes.

How long does Chenin Blanc age?

Longer than nearly any other white. Sweet Loire Chenin from favourable vintages regularly has the potential to last at least 100 years, and the high acidity is what does it, with phenolic compounds breaking down over time to add complexity and depth. Off-dry or "demi-sec" bottles may need at least 10 years before they drink at peak and can keep developing for another 20 to 30 after that. Sparkling and dry examples from premium production and good vintages also outlive what most drinkers expect of white wine.

One warning for anyone timing a bottle: ageing Chenin goes through "dumb phases", closing up and giving little aroma or varietal character before it reopens. A shut bottle is not a dead one. Check the drink-now list before you pull a cork you cannot put back.

What food goes with Chenin Blanc?

Match the dish to the style rather than to the grape. Lighter dry Chenin works with salads, fish and chicken. Medium-dry styles have the acidity and balance for cream sauces and rich dishes such as pâté. Sweeter styles balance the spicy heat of some Asian and Hispanic cuisines. Our white wine food pairing guide covers the wider set.

What else is Chenin Blanc called?

Steen, in South Africa, for two centuries: ampelographers could not confirm that the country's Steen plantings were Chenin Blanc until 1965. In the Loire it is Pineau de la Loire, and in Touraine, Gros Pineau. Spain knows it as Agudelo, and DNA analysis in 2006 established that the Agudelo growing in Galicia, Alella and Penedès is Chenin Blanc. Other synonyms include Blanc d'Aunis, Cugnette, Franc blanc, Plant de Brézé, Tête de Crabe, Stein, Vaalblaar Stein and Verdurant.

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