Chenin Blanc: Everything You Need to Know About One Of India's Most Popular White Wine

The most widely grown white wine grape variety in India, Chenin Blanc makes excellent quality sparkling wine. Its versatility and sweet flavour profile make it a perfect pairing for all palettes. On similar lines with Chardonnay, this wine makes great dry summer white, sparkling and lithe wines. Although Chenin Blanc vines were primarily grown in France, it has expanded to around 23 countries, including India. The wine is named after Mont Chenin in Toraine, a wine region to the east of Anjou region where the wine originated. 

Characteristics

Easy to grow in many soil types, the vines have expanded to numerous parts of the world leading to the popularity of the wine. The grape can be made into any kind of wine, whether sweet, semi-sweet or dry. The wine is usually oak-aged but it responds well to stainless steel too.

• High in acidity

Depending on the style, Chenin Blanc has medium-plus to high acidity. This is the reason why it pairs well with dishes that have a sweet or sour flavour profile.

Food Pairings

As mentioned above, Chenin Blanc pairs well with foods with a sweet or sour flavour profile. Southeast Asian cuisine is mainly sweet and sour which makes Chenin Blanc popular in most South-East Asian countries. Meats like chicken, turkey, veal and pork chop go well with Chenin Blanc. Pork chops with a herb crust with Chenin Blanc are a match made in heaven. Chenin Blanc also goes well with a lot of vegetables and herbs. Soft to semi-firm milk cheeses like goat cheese, cheddar and brie are also paired well with the wine. 

Flavour Profile

• Dry styles of Chenin Blanc are high in acidity and generally have an aroma of pears, quince, yellow apple, ginger and chamomile.

• Off-dry styles have riper fruit aromas like jasmine, guava, peach and honeycomb. This is because of the natural sugars left in the wine from the grapes.

• Sweet Chenin Blanc wines have flavours of dried persimmon, marmalade and mandarin orange. 

• Sparkling Chenin Blanc can range from Brut to Demi-Sec with the classic floral notes, quince and plum. 

If you are in India, you can go for the premium Chenin Blanc sold by Sula, Grover, York and Fratelli. Buy a Chenin Blanc according to your flavour preference, pair it with some smoked salmon and goat cheese salad to end your weekend on a good note.