Great whites... and all from just one grape

OFTEN underrated, Chenin blanc - “shen-nin blonk” - is a versatile, aromatic white grape that produces a huge array of wines depending on region and climate, from light easy-sipping, to rich and intense with bold fruit flavours. The grape travels well, adapting to local soil and climatemaking it one of the world’s best all-rounders.

- by Matt Nixson

It provides crisp dry whites and sparkling wines, oak-aged wines similar to chardonnay, off-dry styles and dessert wines. And it’s typically great value. Dry wines are medium-light bodied and minerally, with high acidity and flavours of apple, pear and quince. Richer complex styles are full-bodied and offer ripe peach and honeysuckle notes, but retain high acidity and mineral freshness. High-quality sweet wines offer ripe apricot, mango and citrus peel.

The Loire in central France is Chenin blanc’s ancestral home and it remains a key grape used in many crémants throughout the region. But it’s famously found a second home in South Africa, in the same way as sauvignon blanc has in New Zealand and malbec in Argentina. Its ability to retain acidity in hot weather, together with its high yields, meant it quickly became popular for bulk-wine production.