The next white grape we'll consider is Chenin Blanc.
Chenin Blanc was somewhat popular in California in the mid-20th century.
I remember as a younger person seeing Chenin Blanc
in the marketplace everywhere.
But it declined in acreage as other whites ascended,
namely Chardonnay and then subsequently Sauvignon Blanc.
But nowadays as wine consumers are casting around for
the next interesting white wine to grab their attention, gradually we're being
refocused on this lovely traditional grape from France's Loire Valley, Chenin Blanc.
And with hundreds of years of practice under their belts,
the Loire Valley wine makers are providing delicious wines.
Some say that the Loire Valley wines are the most widely sold wines in restaurants,
and bistros, and cafes in the whole of France.
Chenin Blanc can be a little difficult to work with but
if you are a skilled winemaker in the middle Loire Valley making wines that
are called Savenniere or Vouvray, you are able to coax some very specific,
very distinctive flavors out of your Chenin Blanc.
Chenin Blanc wine can have a light floral or citrus notes,
sometimes with a touch of lemon, or lime, or grapefruit.
Green apple is often found, and stone fruit, green grass.
My personal marker for Chenin Blanc,
maybe Chenin Blanc that's a couple years old, is day-old grass clippings.
Some say Chenins have dry grass notes, some say minerality or honeyed notes.
Chenin Blancs can range from dry, to off dry, to quite sweet and it pays to do
a little bit of research on the specific Chenin Blanc that you're going to buy or
that you have in your collection so
that you'll know in advance how sweet it might be.
In the Old World Chenin Blancs seldom receive any oak treatment.
Often my own personal marker for what constitutes
the distinctive flavors in an Old World Chenin Blanc are what I call honeyed hay.
Literally smelling like a handful of hay on which you've drizzled some honey,
it's a classic and a very delicious smell.
And very distinctive, if you smell honeyed hay in a white wine,
you can bet that it's probably Old World.
So again, the classic Old World niche for Chenin Blanc is the middle Loire Valley
where local Chenin wines appear under place names such as Vouvray and
Savenniere.
Much is also planted in South of France as well.
South Africa has vinified Chenin Blanc for
a very long time, traditionally in South Africa it was called Steen, S-T-E-E-N.
And it is still in South Africa the most widely planted grape.
Elsewhere Chenin appears in California, Australia, and New Zealand.
I think that Chenin is going to be one of the next hot grape varietals.
In California we pulled out many of our Chenin Blanc vineyards but
hopefully they'll be replanted and Chenin Blanc will have its day in the sun.