As we see bell-bottomed jeans resurface from what we thought was the dustbin of history, we have to accept the recurrent nature of fashion. In the world of wine, we’ve certainly now come to expect the rediscovery (or resurrection from near extinction) of ancient grape varieties, as dedicated producers reclaim a regional heritage lost for many generations. The resurgence of a grape variety only recently discarded by a wine region’s producers, however, is much less common. But that is exactly what is happening right now with Chenin Blanc in California.
‘When I moved to Napa in 1980, Chenin was the second most planted white grape in the valley’, says John Skupny, co-proprietor of the Loire-inspired brand Lang & Reed. According to the California Wine Institute, ‘there was more [Chenin Blanc] in California at one point than in its ancestral home in France’s Loire Valley!’
No one is exactly sure when cuttings from the Loire ended up in California, though it seems likely the grape would have been included in the large selection of European plant material collected by Agoston Haraszthy for the California Agricultural Society in the 1850s.
A rapid rise
The clearest evidence we have of Chenin’s introduction to the state can be seen today in the still-producing 1919 planting at Chalone Vineyards, high in the Gavilan Mountains of Monterey County. (As a minor aside, a number of people I spoke to suggest that this vineyard may not be purely Chenin Blanc or at the very least may contain a number of odd clones not found elsewhere.)
Regardless of its murky origins, clear documentation exists to support the claim that in the post-Prohibition era of a resurgent California wine industry, Chenin Blanc quickly became one of state’s most important grape varieties. In 1971 California had a mere 2,903 acres (1,175 ha) of Chenin planted. At the height of the grape’s popularity, in 1988, there were 36,145 acres (14,627 ha) planted in the state, significantly more than the roughly 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) that exist in the Loire today.
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Image of a Chenin cluster at Vista Verde Vineyard courtesy of Rococo Wines.
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Source : https://www.vinography.com/2024/12/tasting-california-chenin-blanc
