Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc Tasting Notes

Green Apple

Pear

Honey

Passion Fruit

Mango

Chenin Blanc is generally a very fresh, clean and nutty variety, often boasting apple and pear flavours and offering up hints of honey as well. Tasting notes will vary depending on the specific style of the wine.

Dry Chenin Blanc is typically quite minerally, with flavours of quince, tart pear and hints of ginger spice. Off-dry selections will often harbour slightly richer flavours, including ripe pear, peach, honey and passionfruit, with hints of spice and floral aromas. The sweetest styles of Chenin Blanc start to incorporate some mango and orange flavours, and are typically of a deep, golden colour.

Chenin Blanc Wine Style

The high acidity of the Chenin grape means it can be vinified in a range of styles. Depending on the region in which it’s grown and the winemakers preference, Chenin Blanc wines can be anywhere on the body scale, ranging from a very pale yellow to a deep gold colour and anything from bone-dry to super-sweet. In the Loire Valley, the cooler climate causes grapes to become very inconsistent in terms of ripeness. The less ripe grapes are used to make sparkling wine and the riper grapes are used to make rich, off-dry whites. The last picked are the over-ripe grapes, often affected by noble rot, which are used to craft the region’s famous, super-sweet wines. South African Chenin Blanc from regions such as Stellenbosch and Swartland are very bright, fresh and fruity, with the high acidity of the grape counterbalancing the ripe fruit flavours fantastically. There’s recently been more attention placed on crafting rich, oaked options too.

Wine Regions

South Africa

France

USA

This remarkable, noble grape is used all around the world to produce exceptional wine, although France is considered its vinicultural home. In the Loire Valley, it has long been used to produce sparkling wine, off-dry whites and the regions sweet speciality wines. As a grape that buds early and ripens late, growing in the cooler climate of the Loire Valley is quite risky and is prone to producing less-ripe and over-acidic batches.

The South African climate however is perfect for growing Chenin Blanc. So much so, that South Africa is now the leading producer worldwide, with over 50% of global Chenin Blanc vineyards inside its borders. Having arrived there in the 1700s, it’s now the most widely-planted white grape in the country, popular for its highly acidic nature and ability to produce large crops. For a long time, South African wine producers primarily saw Chenin as a workhorse variety, often blending it with other grapes to contribute acidity. Recently, with more emphasis on crafting interesting and high quality produce, winemakers have started using it to create stand-alone wines with incredible, tropical fruit character. Chenin Blanc is also produced on a smaller scale in the United States (the hot Central Valley), Argentina, New Zealand & Australia.

What Food Goes with Chenin Blanc?

Chenin Blanc can be extremely clean, crisp and vibrant, making it the perfect wine for seafood. Consider pairing with shellfish such as scallops or crab. It also complements meat in fruit sauce perfectly, such as pork with apple sauce or fish with lemon or creamy white sauces. When it comes to sweeter styles of Chenin Blanc, look to utilise the sweetness to balance out the spiciness and heat of some Asian cuisines.