Deep Dive: Australia's Best Chenin Blanc
17 February 2021. Words by YGOW.
Chenin blanc is the heroic white variety of France’s Loire Valley, making wines up and down the scale, from vibrant and carefree sparklings to lusciously sweet whites that are some of the world’s most long-lived wines. But the grape also excels out of the cool of the Loire, being South Africa’s most important white variety, while also thriving in the heat of Western Australia’s Swan Valley where a renaissance is in full swing. And it’s not just in the West, either, with makers from South Australia also putting their hands up. With ample producers dedicated to elevating the grape, a Deep Dive was called for, so we gathered as many bottlings as we could find and enlisted the help of eight of this country’s finest palates to check in to see just where Australian chenin blanc is at.
Our panel: Kate McIntyre MW, Marketing and Business Development Manager Moorooduc Estate; Isabelle Szyman, Sommelier; Kayleen Reynolds, Manager City Wine Shop; Pierre Stock Co-owner/Director France-Soir Wine Selections; Natasha Johns DipWSET, Owner/Director Primavera Selections; Loic Avril, Wine Director LUCAS Restaurants; Anthony Pieri, Head Sommelier Brae; Ben Ranken, Vigneron/Owner Wilimee and Vineyard Manager/Winemaker Mount Monument.
We set our expert panel the tasks of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the top wines from the tasting.
Chenin Blanc History
While it has established a significant second home in South Africa, chenin blanc’s spiritual heartland is in France, with a history thought to stretch back over a millennium. Although South African plantings now eclipse those of chenin’s homeland, and their best expressions are compelling, world-class wines, the wealth of top examples still emerge from the Middle Loire Valley appellations of Vouvray, Anjou, Montlouis and Savennières.
Somewhat like riesling, chenin blanc is an incredibly versatile grape, making everything from racy, dry and mineral wines to opulently sweet ones, laced with botrytis. The pinnacle sweeter wines – though they make dry ones, too – mostly come from Vouvray, Anjou and Montlouis, while Savennières is associated with dry wine, though it is typically powerful, intense and age-worthy. Chenin blanc also contributes to sparkling wine, both the broadly sourced Crémant de Loire, which can come from most areas of the Middle Loire, as well as for, though to a lesser degree, Limoux further south in the Languedoc.
Also much like riesling, the best chenin blancs can age for a considerable time, with many decades not unusual, and a century not unheard of. The longest lived are typically the sweeter wines, with the qualities of the sugar paired with characteristically electric acid preserving the wines exceptionally well.
2019 Vino Volta ‘Nothing Wrong with Old School’ Chenin Blanc, Swan Valley $30
Pieri registered this as his second top wine of the tasting. “After a couple of minutes in the glass,” he wrote, “the nose becomes quite open and generous with loads of custard, vanilla bean and white-flower-scented deliciousness. The palate has evolved as well into the star of the wines thus far. Very well done.” Johns also had this second on her list. “Honeysuckle, well-defined tight citrus notes, waxy apples and apple skin but delicate – this wine has great tension, great texture and great balance. Really delicious.” Reynolds declared it, “A great wine to show someone who isn’t convinced chenin blanc is their friend – there’s a chenin out there for everyone! An approachable, people pleaser this one. Driven by vibrant fruits of green apple and white nectarines, the line and drive of this wine is held together by forgiving phenolics and acidity. Suitable for any situation, whether you’re dining in a restaurant, at a barbecue or catching up with friends in the park.”
2019 Vino Volta ‘Funky and Fearless’ Chenin Blanc, Swan Valley $35
McIntyre had this in the top half of her final selections. “This wine had all the aromas I love from this variety,” she wrote, “lanolin, lemon rind, honey and beeswax – less apple than some. Very clean, fresh and bright on the palate, with just enough phenolic texture to keep things interesting. Attractive acid line softened with the honeyed notes, and just a touch off dry. Not particularly intellectual or complicated, which is often a good thing! A tasty mouthful.”
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