chenin blanc

Also known as: Pineau de la Loire (Loire), Steen (South Africa)

Chenin Blanc is the chameleon amongst grape varieties. In the Loire, it becomes everything: bone-dry Savennières that needs decades; creamy Vouvray Sec; off-dry Demi-Sec; sparkling wine from Saumur; and legendary sweet wines from Quarts de Chaume. No other white grape variety covers such a spectrum.

What unites them all: a distinctive acidity that keeps even sweet wines lively, and a waxy texture that becomes ever more complex with age. Quince, honey, camomile, wet wool – Chenin develops aromas that seem closed in young wines.

At Huet in Vouvray, you see the full potential: biodynamic since the 1990s, three single vineyards (Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, Clos du Bourg), each year in Sec, Demi-Sec and Moelleux. Château de Coulaine and Claude de Nell show the dry, mineral side from Anjou.