Chenin
Blanc
At
the beginning of the 1970s, Americans began to
discover that California's better wines are
labeled by the predominate grape variety. Made
in the style of the day, fragrant and lightly
sweet, and also easy to pronounce, Chenin Blanc
quickly became the best-selling wine of the
era.
As wine
popularity rocketed, Chenin Blanc helped to
introduce another, completely unpopular, wine
phenomenon that became the varietal's
1sales
death knell: allocation. The "boom" in
wine, especially white varietals, caught most
producers by surprise.
Charles Krug was the
top-selling brand and, from 1972 to 1977, the
winery completely controlled the chain of
supply, using the demand for whites as a reward
to buyers of the 2less-popular
reds.
Chenin blanc
is arguably the most versatile of all wine grape
varieties. Crisp, dry table wines, light
sparkling wines, long-lived, unctuous,
nectar-like dessert wines, and even brandy are
all produced in various areas of the wine world,
all of chenin blanc.
It might even
be said that chenin blanc is France's most
successful export variety, if only considering
the vine rather than the wine. Although the
native region for chenin is the Loire Valley
(where the grape is often called Pineau de la
Loire), there is less planted in all of
France than in most wine-producing countries of
the New World. It is planted as Pinot
Blanco in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and
Argentina, where there are over 10,000 acres of
chenin blanc. Nearly a third of vines in South
Africa are chenin blanc, where it is also called
Steen. In California, it is the third
most widely planted white wine grape. Australia
has close to 1,500 acres and New Zealand
500.
Resistance to
many diseases, vine vigor, and the tendency to
early bud break and late ripening suits chenin
blanc to grow in climates too warm for many
vinifera types. The vine grows well in many soil
types and can be very vigorous in either sandy
loam or clay loam. Production is fairly
consistent at from five to eight tons per acre.
At three or four years old, the vines tend to
overproduce and may set crops too large to fully
ripen in the coolest areas. Chenin blanc grapes
are susceptible to both bunch rot and sun
burn.
In spite of
its wide plantings and potential flavor palates,
most chenin blanc is made into serviceable, but
generally bland wine. A general tendency to
over-irrigate and overcrop further reduce most
Chenin Blanc to the forgettable. Careful
viticultural practices easily overcome chenin
blanc's weaknesses and can result in excellent
wine.
Nearly all the
truly memorable Chenin Blancs are French, from
Saumur and Savennières
(dry), Anjou and Vouvray
(off-dry), Coteaux du Layon and Quarts
de Chaume (dessert), and Crémant
de Loire (sparkling). No matter the style, a
certain floral, honeyed character, along with
zesty acidity are the sensory trademarks of
well-made Chenin Blanc. When conditions are
right, Botrytis
cinerea
adds additional complexity and
intensity.
The most
frequently encountered (but not exclusive) smell
and/or flavor elements found in Chenin
Blanc-based wines include:
|
Chenin
Blanc Smell and/or Flavor
Elements
|
|
Varietal
Aromas/Flavors:
|
Processing
Bouquets/Flavors:
|
Floral:
honey, honeysuckle
|
.
|
Fruity:
quince, melon, esp. Honeydew,
cantaloupe
|
Wood:
vanilla, sweet wood, oak (not
usually)
|
Aggressive:
iodine, "gym socks"
|
Mineral:
flint, smoke
|
Herbal:
grass, hay
|
.
|
The nominees
for Best Supporting Appellation in California
Chenin Blanc are: Clarksburg (Yolo County) and
Monterey County.
by
Jim
LaMar
Notes
1
California vineyard acreage planted to Chenin
Blanc was 28,494 in 1982; by 1999, total Chenin
Blanc acreage sunk to 20,962. Over that same
period, Chardonnay acreage more than quadrupled.
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2 From 1970
until the late 1980s, sales and consumption of
wine in the United States held a ratio of about
75% white to 25% red. At the turn of the
Millennium, the ratio is closer to 50-50.
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