Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc is strangely not common in New Zealand, but is deceptively so worldwide. California and South Africa make fine examples but also use it for volume: plantings in each exceed its homeland, France. At home in the cool Loire Valley, Chenin grows near sibling-grape Sauvignon Blanc to make many important, mineral styles: from super-value Methode Traditionelle to complex, fleshy whites like Saumur and Vouvray to rich dessert wines like Bonnezeaux. Chenin is loved by exclusive dessert winemakers for the same reason it is by mass producers of still whites in sun-baked California: for its ability, like Riesling, to retain acid when very ripe. A versatile and impressive variety, top Chenins age for a century while basic ones never fail to please with seafood and white meats.
-
2022 Astrolabe Chenin Blanc SecAntonio Galloni's VinousA new bottling of Chenin Blanc from some of NZ's biggest fans of this grape. It offer refreshing white fruits with a zingy minerality, in an easy-drinking style that reflects Astrolabe's special ... read more$24.99 in mixed 6+ or $27.99 per bottle
-
2022 Astrolabe Wrekin Late Harvest Chenin Blanc 375mlRichard CaroA seriously good sticky from Marlborough. Chenin Blanc makes a wonderful dessert wine, but this superb style is all too rare in New Zealand. Astrolabe's is a "Late Harvest", i.e. not too syrupy ... read more$29.99 in mixed 6+ or $33.99 per bottle
-
2023 Astrolabe Wrekin Vineyard Chenin BlancAntonio Galloni's VinousA beautiful example of Chenin Blanc by the masters of Marborough varietals, Astrolabe. It showcases all that is so gorgeous and typically New Zealand about good Chenin Blanc, this quiet icon of ... read more$29.99 in mixed 6+ or $33.99 per bottle
-
2023 Voyager Estate Chenin BlancJames HallidayA delicious chenin Blanc from one of the finest estates in the Margaret River. This classic style is very true to the French standard, with the Chenin Blanc grape drawing its freshness from the ... read more$29.99 in mixed 6+ or $33.99 per bottle
-
2021 Bernard Fouquet Aubuisieres Vouvray SilexJohn GillmanThis delicious staff favourite is what Vouvray is all about. A wine of contradictions, it is plump textured but also fresh, dry and steely-mineral. From 100% Chenin Blanc it is a classic ... read more$33.99 in mixed 6+ or $37.99 per bottle
-
2021 Millton Te Arai Vineyard Chenin BlancRichard CaroA New Zealand and world benchmark for Chenin Blanc. James Millton is a legend of biodynamic wine and has great dedication to this grape, allowing vintage variation to express itself with in a ... read more$37.99 in mixed 6+ or $42.99 per bottle
-
2018 Olga Raffault Chinon Champ-CheninJohn GillmanThis special cellar release is a serious 100% Chenin Blanc from a leader in the otherwise red-dominant area of the Loire Valley. Raffault has some of the oldest Chenin Blanc vines in Chinon in a ... read more$53.99 in mixed 6+ or $59.99 per bottle
-
2021 Millton Clos de Ste Anne Chenin BlancJohn CaroThis special Chenin Blanc is from 'down there' (La Bas) in a special, lower-lying plot on Millton's Clos de Ste Anne hillside at Manutuke, Gisborne. Lees-aged for nine months in large, 600-litre ... read more$81.99 in mixed 6+ or $91.99 per bottle