Wine Grape Cheat Sheets: Chenin Blanc

The Soundbyte:  Chenin Blanc is native to the Loire Valley Region of France and is widely grown throughout the Loire and the new world.

Chenin Blanc produces a fruity, floral, easy to drink white wine with clean, fresh flavors and a good zing of acidity.   However, this is no simple little white wine grape; Chenin Blanc can be made into serious, mineral-driven dry wines, methode traditionnelle sparkling wines, and decadent botrytis-affected dessert wines in addition to the well-known, and much beloved “porch sipper” style.

Typical Attributes of a Chenin Blanc Based Wine:

• Dry Chenin Blanc wines are generally light bodied and fruity, with floral and nutty overtones.
• Chenin Blanc has a good deal of acidity, but balanced with the fruity, or sometimes sweet, tastes and flavors typical of the grape it generally comes across as a smooth, easy to drink and easy to love wine.
• Dry Chenin Blanc tends to be low-alcohol and refreshing to drink.
• Chenin Blanc’s delicate character makes it a good match for delicately flavored foods.  It can also be used as a wine match for interesting, spicy, or blended “fusion-style” flavors;   Its delicacy means there are few flavors that will “clash” with such foods.
• Chenin Blanc is also made into Sparkling wines in the Loire Valley and other regions.
• Due to its racy acidity, Chenin Blanc also stars as a dessert wine often produced in a late harvest or botrytis-affected style.
• Chenin Blanc also has a serious side, and the steely, nervy, mineral-driven wines of Savenniéres have been called “the most cerebral wines in the world”.

Typical Aromas of a Chenin Blanc Based Wine:

Fruity:  Apricot, Melon, Green Apple, Green Plum, Pear, Quince, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Greengage (a light green plum popular in France and England).

Floral/Herbal:  Orange Blossom, Wildflowers, Perfume, Honey, Honeysuckle, Acacia, Grass, Hay, Angelica (a herb that smells somewhat like celery, is often candied, and is used to flavor Chartreuse)

Chalk, Mineral:  Flint, Smoke, “Steely”

Nutty:  Almond, Marzipan

Where The Best Chenin Blanc is Grown:

• The Loire Valley in France, notably the regions of Vouvray, Coteaux du Layon, Savevnnières, and Saumur.  The Loire Valley is thought to be the native home of Chenin Blanc, and it is used to make just about every type of white wine possible.  The region of Savennières produces bone-dry, steely versions, while Anjou, Montlouis, and Vouvray are made in a variety of styles from dry to sweet.  Saumur and other Loire regions produce sparkling Chenin Blanc from dry to sweet, and world-class dessert wines are the specialty of Bonnezeaux and Quarts-de-Chaume.
• Chenin Blanc is the most widely planted white wine grape in South Africa, where for centuries it has gone by the name of “Steen.”  The grape may have been one of the original grapes planted by Jan van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to South Africa with the French Huguenots who arrived a bit later.
• California, Washington, New Mexico and several other U.S. States
• Australia, where it is often blended with Semillon, and New Zealand, where it is grown in small amounts on the North Island.
• Many other wine producing regions and countries—including the emerging regions of Israel, Brazil, Urugauy, and Mexico—have plantings of Chenin Blanc.

Food Affinities – Base Ingredients:

• Delicately Flavored Seafood, Smoked Seafood, Shellfish
• Chicken, other types of Poultry, Chicken Liver, Foie Gras
• Ham, Prosciutto, Bacon
• Goat’s Cheese
• Crudities and Dips
• Potato Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

• Curry, Indian Spices, Asian Spices
• Capers, Herbs
• Mushrooms, Avocado, Zucchini, Endive, Spinach
• Honey (go easy on the sweetness with dry wines)
• Almonds, Hazelnuts
• Apricot, Melon, Apple

Note: When it comes to food pairings, by all means—drink what you like!

The Bubbly Professor is “Miss Jane” Nickles of Austin, Texas