Tasting Notes

Background:

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. It has been an important ingredient in Swan Valley wines for generations.

Chenin is a growers favourite because it crops with abandon. Wine makers are more circumspect because flavour is in inverse relation to crop level. Here is a Chenin from the great 2006 vintage where the fruit ripened very late in a very cool season. We could see problems ahead if the vines were forced to carry a big crop so we dropped a third on the ground before the ripening process began.

Current Vintage : 2006