Chenin Blanc - Wine Regions

Wine Regions

While Chenin blanc is planted across the globe from China to New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina, it is considered a "major" planting in only a few locations. While France is the viticultural home of Chenin blanc, by the turn of the 21st century there was twice as much Chenin blanc planted in South Africa as there was in France. The grape's versatility and ability to reflect terroir causes it to lead, what Jancis Robinson describes as, a "double life". In the Loire Valley of France, it is prized as a premium quality wine grape able to produce world class wines, while in many New World wine regions it used as a "workhorse variety", contributing acidity to bulk white blends and showing more neutral flavors rather than terroir. Throughout all its manifestations, Chenin blanc's characteristic acidity is found almost universally in all wine regions.