Jul 30, 2019
In this episode of the Grape Miniseries, we discuss Pineau de la Loire, a.k.a, Chenin Blanc! This white grape is one of the most versatile in terms of wine styles it can make – from floral sparkling, to stunning dry and off dry versions to unctuous dessert wines. Chenin is underrated, not always treated with regard, but it has a pedigree and a class that can’t be doubted. After hearing about all it has to offer, you’ll want to run out and get a bottle ASAP!
Here are the show notes:
What Is Chenin Blanc?
- It’s a high acid, white grape that makes everything from sparkling to dessert wines. When it’s grown poorly, it’s a boring neutral grape that’s used for its acidity but when grown in the right places, it can create a wine with great depth, character
- DNA: Chenin is related to Jura’s Savagnin – parent + unknown grape
- French grape scientist – Pierre Galet – Chenin Blanc started in Anjou in the 9thc, moved to Touraine by the 15thc
- 1520 – 1535 -- Grapes planted at Mount Chenin in Touraine by the Lord of Chateaux de Chenonceau and the Abbot of Cormery
Flavors of Chenin
- Chenin can express terroir, winemaker ideas, vintage but at its core it has a floral, mineral, honey note. Its nuances are determined by terroir, soil type and style
- With botrytis the wine is like peaches, honey, apricots, marzipan, quince
- Dry or off-dry from Loire: apple, chalk that turn into honey and quince – off dry can age
- New World, especially South Africa: tropical fruit notes, good acidity
Viticulture:
- Need ripeness and good control over its vigor to get depth and complexity
- New clonal research is being done to delay budding because the grape is prone to spring frost, increase sugar development
- Vintage variation: growers decide on a day by day basis what style and dryness of Chenin blanc they could make
Winemaking
- New World: Can be blended or do well alone, some skin contact to get different aroma, soften with malolactic, lees contact, tropical notes bc of cooler temps of fermentation
- Old World – fermentation temps – higher (60-68˚f. 16-20˚c) so they won’t get those tropical fruit flavors that come out with cooler temps (50˚/10˚C) – no new oak/toastiness
- Loire:Made like German white wines – low, slow fermentations in large old oak or stainless steel, no malolactic fermentation, no barriques
Wine regions
Loire, France
- Sweet appellations:Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux, Quarts de Chaume, Vouvray
- Dry:Saviennières (Nicolas Joly) – concentration, flavor, longevity, climate change has made dry wine possible in most areas – although some is off-dry, tryig to become a Grand Cru of the Loire
- Range of sweetness levels, from dry to semi-sweet to sweet: Anjou, Crémant de Loire, Coteaux de l'Aubance, Jasnières, Montlouis, Saumur, and Vouvray
- Varied:Saumur, Vouvray, Anjou –Vouvray
- Moelleux wines:Sweet but can be artificially sweetened, so you need a good producer – Vouvray and Quarts de Chaume the best
- Demi sec: great acidity, with a touch of sugar sometimes seem dry b/c of the acidity
Languedoc: Crémant de Limoux, Chenin must account for at least 20% and up to 40% of the blend with Mauzac, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
South Africa
- Most in Western Cape: Stellebosch, Paarl and then Swartland, Olifants River
- Good acidity in a hot climate
- Swartland Top Producers: Badenhorst, Mullineux, Eben Sadie (blends
- Stellebosch Top Producers: Ken Forrester, De Morgenzon
United States
- California: Used it for jug wine because it had acidity,
irrigated to the hilt – high yields, 4x as high as in Loire
- Clarksburg AVA plus, Chappellet in Napa, Leo Steen in Sonoma/Santa Ynez, Foxen in Santa Barbara
- Washington: Yakima
- Texas High Plains (a few hundred)
- Long Island, New York: Paumanok
Other wine regions: Australia,New Zealand, Argentina blended with Chardonnay, Mexico and Canada, and India and Thailand grow it too!
Thanks to our sponsors this week:
Thanks to YOU! The
podcast supporters on Patreon, who are helping us to make the
podcast possible and who we give goodies in return for their help!
Check it out today:
https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople
And to sign up for classes, please go to www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes!
Coravin is the first and only tool in the world that lets you pour wine without removing the cork. You can pour wine in any amount and preserve what’s left of the bottle for weeks, months of even years. Thousands of wine professionals, from sommeliers to winemakers, around the world have tested and trust Coravin with their wines and it will change the way you drink wine too. For a limited time, visit Coravin.com and enter NORMAL at checkout to get $20 off your purchase of $50 of more!
Imagine a path to wealth that just works. A team of experts at your beck and call, technology to keep tabs on your money 24/7, financial education and the personal touch that makes organizing your financial life feel achievable, rather than daunting.Halpern Financial is a fiduciary, fee-only, independent advisor that offers a combination of online tools and personal connection to help clients systematically achieve their goals.
Go to halpernfinancial.com/wine for more information!
I love this service!! Last Bottle Wines finds great wines and offers them at a one time discount. Last Bottle Wines is a fun way to discover the best wines at the lowest prices. They offer a range of prices from low end to high end $9 to $99 and the wines range from the lesser known kinds like Albariño and Bläufrankish to Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay.
Visit: http://lastbottlewines.com/normal and join to get a $10 instant credit to use toward your first order. Invite your wine drinking pals and they’ll get $10 instantly and you get $30 when they make their first buy.