Chenin Blanc

Jancis Robinson writes that Chenin "has been grown around the town of Angers on the Loire for centuries, perhaps for more than a millennium." WSET states that it has been cultivated in the Loire Valley since at least the 9th century. WOSA's 2024 Chenin Blanc fact sheet dates the first reference to the grape to 845, under the name "plant d'Anjou", in a text written by Charles le Chauve. According to Decanter, the Renaissance writer François Rabelais (1494 to 1553) mentions the variety both as Chenin and by its common Loire synonym Pineau, and other local synonyms were Anjou, Plant d'Anjou, Gros Pineau, Pineau d'Anjou and Pineau de la Loire. Decanter adds that the name most likely comes from the monastery of Montchenin, from where the vine was propagated across the Touraine region before returning to Anjou under its new name. WOSA records that a white grape known as Plant d'Anjou was first planted between 1520 and 1535 at a site known as Mont Chenin in the Loire. In South Africa, according to WOSA, Chenin Blanc is believed to be amongst the first vine cuttings that arrived in 1655, during the time of Governor Jan van Riebeeck. It was initially identified there as Steen and later determined to be Chenin Blanc from the Loire; WOSA notes that Steen was also misidentified as a Palomino mutation.

• 845: first reference to the grape, as 'plant d'Anjou', according to WOSA
• 1520 to 1535: a white grape known as Plant d'Anjou first planted at Mont Chenin in the Loire, according to WOSA
• 1655: believed to be amongst the first vine cuttings to arrive in South Africa (WOSA)
• Synonyms: Pineau (Jancis Robinson), Pineau de la Loire (WSET), Steen in South Africa (WOSA)

VIVC records Chenin Blanc under variety number 2527, with CHENIN BLANC as its prime name. According to VIVC, the country of origin of the variety is France. According to VIVC, one parent of Chenin Blanc is Savagnin, which VIVC lists under the prime name Savagnin Blanc (variety number 17636). VIVC gives this pedigree as confirmed by markers. In the VIVC pedigree of Chenin Blanc, the second parent is recorded as unknown.

• Country of origin: France, according to VIVC
• Parent: Savagnin (VIVC prime name Savagnin Blanc), according to VIVC
• Second parent: unknown, according to VIVC

According to WSET, Chenin Blanc has naturally high acid levels, which make it suitable for late harvesting, and its high level of acidity means that it has excellent ageing potential. WSET describes it as a non-aromatic grape whose flavours depend on when it is picked. In the cool climate of Touraine in the Loire Valley, WSET notes Chenin Blanc tasting notes of citrus and straw, plus high acidity and chalky minerality. Anjou has a relatively warm, dry climate compared to Touraine, and its wines are often medium to full-bodied. South African winemakers prize Chenin for its ability to retain high levels of acidity in a warm climate, and wines from old bush vines can have more concentrated flavours, a fuller texture and pronounced aromas of pineapple and mango (WSET). WOSA states that many South African Chenin Blanc wines fall within the 12 to 14.5% alcohol by volume bracket.

WSET says Chenin is grown across the world but is primarily planted in the Loire Valley and South Africa. In the Loire, Vouvray AOC permits only Chenin Blanc and produces dry, off-dry, medium, sweet and sparkling wines, typically unoaked. Within Anjou, Savennières is noted for dry Chenin Blanc, while the Coteaux du Layon is famous for sweet wines, including the botrytised wines of Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume (WSET). Jancis Robinson names Jasnières and Anjou as names found on bottles of serious dry Chenin Blanc, and describes Savennières whites that can take a decade to be approachable. Beyond France and South Africa, WSET points to older vines in California's Clarksburg and Sierra Foothills, small plantings in Western and South Australia, and Argentina and New Zealand as emerging players. Jancis Robinson calls The Millton Vineyard virtually a lone outpost of Chenin Blanc veneration in New Zealand, and Can Rafols dels Caus its counterpart in Spain's Penedès.

• Loire: Vouvray (Chenin Blanc only), Savennières (dry), Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume (sweet and botrytised), Jasnières and Anjou (dry)
• South Africa: the most planted grape in the country, with 16,192 hectares in 2023 according to WOSA
• California: older vines in Clarksburg and the Sierra Foothills (WSET)
• Australia, Argentina and New Zealand: smaller plantings and emerging players noted by WSET

WOSA's 2024 Chenin Blanc fact sheet, sourced to SAWIS and the Chenin Blanc Association, records 16,192 hectares of Chenin Blanc under vine in South Africa in 2023, making it the most planted grape in the country, and states that South Africa is the largest producer of Chenin Blanc, accounting for more than half the global production. Jancis Robinson puts it at almost one vine in five in South Africa, and Decanter notes that it is known locally as Steen. WOSA adds that more than half of the old vines in South Africa are Chenin Blanc, counting 7,366,894 individual old Chenin Blanc vines comprising 2,475 hectares, and that the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard block in South Africa was planted in 1942. Chenin Blanc is South Africa's second largest export cultivar: in 2023 South African wineries exported 45.9 million litres worth R1.2 billion, according to WOSA. It is also used in South Africa in the production of brandy, as well as blended and single varietal wines. According to Decanter, the variety was for a long time used for cheap wine in South Africa, but in the last decade of the 20th century a renewed interest in the country's stock of old vines, which prompted the creation of the Certified Heritage Vineyards programme, along with a community of young, quality-minded producers, changed its standing. WSET describes it as now one of South Africa's flagship grapes, with a growing reputation for quality. Jancis Robinson writes that Ken Forrester was key to starting a Chenin revival and DeMorgenzon was an early adopter; the Mullineux bottle various Chenins grown on different soil types, and David & Nadia specialise in single-vineyard bottlings. Decanter also names AA Badenhorst, Eben Sadie and Mick and Jeanine Craven among producers focusing on fruit from bush-trained plots and experimenting with skin maceration and fermentation and ageing in different vessels.

• 16,192 hectares in 2023, the most planted grape in South Africa (WOSA)
• South Africa accounts for more than half the global production of Chenin Blanc (WOSA)
• Old vines: 7,366,894 individual old Chenin Blanc vines comprising 2,475 hectares; more than half of South Africa's old vines are Chenin Blanc (WOSA)
• Exports: 45.9 million litres in 2023, worth R1.2 billion, the country's second largest export cultivar (WOSA)
• Producers named by Jancis Robinson and Decanter: Ken Forrester, DeMorgenzon, Mullineux, David & Nadia, Sadie Family, AA Badenhorst, and Mick and Jeanine Craven

WSET says Chenin Blanc often has flavours of green apple and lemon if picked early, a common characteristic of Chenin from Vouvray AOC, while riper grapes can offer stone fruit and tropical fruit such as peach, pineapple and mango, common in South African Chenin Blanc; oak can add smoke and vanilla. Dry styles are often crisp, with lemon, grapefruit, fresh apple and potentially stone fruits, and can have a steely, smoky character; off-dry styles such as Vouvray Demi-Sec are more rounded, with stone fruit and a floral character. Sweet, botrytised wines often have powerful apricot and lemon peel flavours and, with age, develop aromas of honey and toast (WSET). Jancis Robinson describes the Chenin flavours of flowers, damp straw and honey, and Decanter its floral aroma and apple and pear-like flavour. WOSA's flavour profile for South African Chenin Blanc lists pear, yellow apple, quince, peach, guava and passionfruit. With time, WSET says, the fruit softens and integrates with tertiary notes of nuts, spices, beeswax, honey and dried fruits.

• Early-picked and dry: green apple, lemon, grapefruit, fresh apple; can be steely or smoky (WSET)
• Riper and South African: peach, pineapple, mango (WSET); pear, yellow apple, quince, peach, guava, passionfruit (WOSA)
• Botrytised sweet: apricot and lemon peel, developing honey and toast with age (WSET)
• Aged: nuts, spices, beeswax, honey and dried fruits (WSET)

WSET notes that it is common for Chenin grapes to reach different levels of ripeness, even within the same bunch, so vignerons need to exclude unripe grapes at harvest to avoid green, herbaceous aromas. Both oaked and unoaked styles are produced. Oak ageing adds texture, spice and richness, with notes of toast and vanilla; lees ageing enhances creaminess and complexity; malolactic fermentation can soften acidity and introduce buttery notes (WSET). Jancis Robinson describes the Loire's sweet Chenins as made very similarly to fine German white wines, with low, slow fermentations in large old oak or stainless steel and no malolactic fermentation. She also notes that Chenin's naturally high acidity makes it a particularly suitable base for sparkling wine, and that Chenin Blanc is usually the base of Saumur's sparkling wines, increasingly labelled Crémant de Loire. According to WSET, Crémant de Loire is the regional appellation for sparkling wines from Anjou, Saumur and Touraine, some made from 100% Chenin Blanc, and the vast majority of sparkling Vouvray is made solely from Chenin Blanc.

• Harvest: uneven ripeness, even within a bunch, means unripe grapes must be excluded (WSET)
• Winery choices: oak ageing, lees ageing and malolactic fermentation each shape the style (WSET)
• Loire sweet wines: low, slow fermentations in large old oak or stainless steel, no malolactic fermentation (Jancis Robinson)
• Sparkling: Crémant de Loire, sparkling Saumur and sparkling Vouvray (WSET, Jancis Robinson)

In Montlouis, Jancis Robinson credits Jacky Blot and others with showing how complex oak-aged dry Loire Chenin can be. In Savennières, the Coulée de Serrant vineyard is, according to the estate, a controlled appellation of only 7 hectares exclusively owned by the Joly family, planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks and cultivated using biodynamic farming methods since 1984; the estate's site says Chenin, along with Riesling, can only fully express itself through a fairly advanced maturity that contains some noble rot. Domaine des Baumard, whose site states "Depuis 1634", lists Savennières, Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume among its appellations. In South Africa, Jancis Robinson names Ken Forrester, DeMorgenzon, the Mullineux, David & Nadia and Sadie Family. Decanter lists The FMC from Ken Forrester Wines in Stellenbosch among its Chenin Blanc wines to try.

• Coulée de Serrant (Savennières): 7-hectare controlled appellation owned by the Joly family, planted in 1130, biodynamic since 1984 (estate site)
• Domaine des Baumard: Savennières, Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume among its appellations (estate site)
• Jacky Blot (Montlouis): complex oak-aged dry Chenin (Jancis Robinson)
• South Africa: Ken Forrester, DeMorgenzon, Mullineux, David & Nadia, Sadie Family (Jancis Robinson)

Jancis Robinson placed Chenin Blanc in the Classic category of her 1986 book Vines, Grapes and Wines, and writes that dry Chenin Blanc has since shown itself to be one of the world's great whites, both in the Loire and, especially, in South Africa. She notes that the Loire is now a stronghold of low-intervention wine, and that in warming summers Chenin's acidity is increasingly recognised as an attribute. WSET adds that sweet Chenin from the Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume can often age gracefully for 50 years or more, and WOSA that Chenin Blanc wines are able to be aged for over a decade.

• Style range: dry, off-dry, sweet and sparkling (WSET)
• Acidity in warming summers: increasingly recognised as an attribute (Jancis Robinson)
• Ageing: sweet Loire Chenin can often age gracefully for 50 years or more (WSET)

https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=2527 https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2025/exploring-chenin-blanc-styles https://www.wosa.co.za/wosadocs/62024/Chenin%20Blanc%202024%20(1).pdf https://www.vinsdeloire.fr/en/grape-varieties/chenin-blanc https://www.coulee-de-serrant.com/en/ https://coulee-de-serrant.com/en/chenin-with-noble-rot/ https://www.baumard.fr Last verified 2026-09-29