The Many Facets of Chenin Blanc
 I love Chenin Blanc; I particularly love Chenin Blanc from France. In France’s Loire Valley, the grape’s native region, the variety reaches its peak.
I always think of the different expressions of Chenin Blanc from the central section of the Loire in the context of a summer day. The cool morning is like a dry, refreshing Savennieres or Saumur. Midday is the full, sweet Coteaux de Layon dessert wine. Dusk is an unctuous crisp Anjou or Vouvray. And the evening, with its light, cooling breeze, is a sparkling Vouvray.
Chenin Blanc is a veritable fruit salad – it typically shows a floral, honeysuckle, apple, cantaloupe character, but with a lightening bolt of acidity that keeps it refreshing. That acidity not only mutes the sweetness but also promotes good aging. Many of these wines can age for decades.
Chenin Blanc is widely planted outside France. It is Pinot Blanco in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina. In South Africa it is often called Steen. In California, it’s one of the top three planted white wine grapes. And Australia and New Zealand have large plantings. Growers love the grape’s disease resistance, its ability to grow in warm climates where many other whites do not succeed, and its love of a variety of soil types. For the most part, however, the wines made in these other areas are simply good quaffing wines. Think of a Keene painting on velvet versus the Mona Lisa.
In France, the cool climate and schist, clay and limestone soils of the Loire Valley (about 100 miles south west of Paris) produce truly memorable, category-defining Chenin Blancs. If you like simply made wines from small, family-owned wineries --wines that express terroir -- look no farther.
The Chenin Blanc areas are sandwiched between Muscadet (closest to the Atlantic) and Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc grown far inland). The main growing areas are Saumur and Savennieres (dry), Vouvray and Anjou (dry to sweet), and Coteaux de Layon and Quarts de Chaume (sweet).
Vouvray, made exclusively from Chenin Blanc (which has been grown there for over 1600 years) is made in a range of styles. About 40% of production is sparkling wine. In some years, the grapes are attacked by botrytis cynera, the “noble rot” responsible for most of the world's greatest sweet white wines. Then, sweet wines are produced.
While most Vouvray is consumed young, it can age for decades. I have heard of some that has held up for over a century. As it ages, Vouvray develops richness and depth but retains its freshness and fruity character. The best wines from Anjou (which also produces a lot of undistinguished roses) are the dry Chenin Blancs.
Just west of Anjou is the appellation of Savennières. The vineyards, on the North bank of the Loire, are worked by hand, as they are on hills too steep for machinery. The stones in the soil retain heat from the sun, providing needed warmth. Savennières represents the pinnacle for dry Chenin Blanc. The slate and volcanic soil adds a real mineral complexity to the full fruit flavors. They are meant to be aged, when they develop a honeyed spiciness and complexity.
Saumur is interesting for its sparkling wines, Saumur mousseux and cremant de la Loire. Made by the traditional Champagne method, these wines are mainly Chenin Blanc. They are lightly sparkling and make good Champagne substitutes.
Coteaux du Layon in Western Anjou, which includes Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux, produces fine sweet wines made only from Chenin Blanc. The sweetness is balanced by their high acidity, and they are as good as Bordeaux’s Sauternes. The main difference between the two (other than grape types) is that the Loire wines are bottled young and age in the bottle, while Sauternes are aged in oak, then bottled.
Chenin Blanc in its many guises can be ideal with a variety of different foods. Slightly sweet (off dry) styles of Vouvray go well with foods that are spicy or sauced sweet. The dry wines like Savennières can cut through a dish's richness and bring the mouth back to balance. The dessert wines are perfect with a triple crème cheese or desserts.
I like the following Loire wines:
Vouvray: Champalou (wide range of sweetness); Domaine Deletang (sweet)
Savinnieres: Chateau d’Epire, Domaine de Baumard. If you can find it and want to splurge, try Clos de la Coulee de Serrant from producer Nicolas Joly ($30 or so)
Coteaux de Layon: Domaine Patrick Baudouin.
Non-French Chenin Blancs: Simonsig from South Africa is a beauty and well priced in the $10 range; Chapellet from California.
By Patricia X Savoie
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