Chenin Blanc

As host of World Cup Soccer, South Africa is also maximizing the opportunity to showcase its top-quality vineyards and wineries on this worldwide stage.

The founder of Cape Town, Jan van Riebeek, is credited for producing the first wine and soon after the British acquired the colony and production soared, making the wines quite popular in 19th century Great Britain.

But a change in British trade regulations devastated South African wine imports and the industry remained essentially stagnant until the 1980s. That was the end of Apartheid and then came an astonishing transformation in their wine industry. Renewed interest in South African wines resulted in increased investment and modernization of facilities, equipment and techniques.

Most of South Africa’s quality growing regions are the Coastal Region or Western Cape area; not far from Cape Town, and one of the legally approved Wine of Origin districts, which are South Africa’s version of appellations.

Read full article here

According to importer Amanda Gallou, the region''s wines are generally "easy to drink and relatively light" due to the fact that they are unoaked.

Ms Gallou imports artisan wines from the region and knows a thing or two about what to look out for. "The Loire Valley, as a general rule, is known for its white wines rather than its reds. With the white wines, the Sauvignon Blanc is one of the main grape varieties - Sancerre is made with a Sauvignon Blanc," she explained.

The expert elaborated by providing a lesson in the history of the region, noting that the Chenin Blanc was originally used in the middle ages to make Vouvray wines.

Read full article here

This is the kind of wine that intrigues novices and fascinates cork dorks, and not just because it's an almost peerless example of what chenin blanc can be. Its fruit profile changes in the glass, from very lemony at first sip to more spice and stone fruit thereafter. But the underlying minerality is there throughout the near-endless finish.

An incredibly versatile pairing wine, this chenin blanc would sing alongside spicy dishes, almost any type of salad or seafood. Not a bad patio sipper, either.

A true family affair, this winery was founded by Didier and Catherine Champalou in 1984. Daughter Céline now assists her father with the winemaking.

Chenin blanc was America's most popular white wine throughout the 1970s. But when U.S. consumers started getting serious about good wine in the late 1980s and '90s, the chenins on most store shelves were, not to put too fine a point on it, downright crummy.

Read full article here

The California wine landscape is dominated by chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. Those grapes account for more than a third of the state's total vineyard acreage and the wines produced from them abound on store shelves.

Some winemakers experiment with one or two of the less-popular grape varieties, but others have made it a significant part of their program. Two such wineries are Dancing Coyote Wines in Clarksburg and Kenneth Volk Vineyards in Santa Maria.

At Dancing Coyote, in the Delta, you'll find chardonnay, pinot grigio and petite sirah, but the lineup is dominated by whites like albarino, chenin blanc, verdelho and even gruner veltliner, a variety grown mainly in Austria. Celia McCormack, who handles sales and marketing for her family's winery, says planting those grapes was her father Tom's idea.

At Dancing Coyote, in the Delta, you'll find chardonnay, pinot grigio and petite sirah, but the lineup is dominated by whites like albarino, chenin blanc, verdelho and even gruner veltliner, a variety grown mainly in Austria. Celia McCormack, who handles sales and marketing for her family's winery, says planting those grapes was her father Tom's idea. "He's a renegade in that respect," she says.

Full Story: On Wine: Vintners who champion obscure grape varieties - San Jose Mercury News

Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem.

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

While watching the World Cup, why not kick back and hoist a cupful of wine from the host country? South Africa makes some delicious wines, especially whites, and can make a case for producing some of the world's best chenin blancs.

Chenin blanc is an under-appreciated wine grape variety, a fact that vexes many sommeliers who love its minerality, expressiveness and compatibility with a broad range of foods. Consumers, however, often shy away from it, probably because of its variability. Chenin blanc can be bone-dry or honeyed; too often, it is somewhere in the indistinct middle range. When there's no easy way to know what's in the bottle, can you blame people for sticking with chardonnay? In the grape's homeland, France's Loire Valley, a dizzying array of appellation names makes chenin extra tricky to sort out (although I would argue that it's worth the effort to do so).

Full Story: Wine: Tooting the horn for South Africa - Washington Post