Chenin Blanc Is the Under-the-Radar White Wine Pros Can’t Stop Pouring

In sommelier-land, Chenin Blanc is unquestionably one of the favorites of the moment. But head out into the world of regular U.S. wine drinkers, and this white variety remains one of the least familiar great wine grapes of the world. 

Sure, it was popular in the US, once upon a time. In 1988 there were over 36,000 acres of it planted in California. Today there are a little over 4,000, but the winds of change may be blowing. The winemakers who do have a passion for Chenin often sell out their wines swiftly. Admittedly, some of these are made in minuscule quantities — Palisades Canyon in Napa Valley makes one of the best U.S. Chenins I’ve ever had, but they make under 100 cases of it — but others are not.

And of course Chenin can be found in abundance in its homeland, the Loire Valley in France, as well as in South Africa. No matter where, those qualities that sommeliers love are present: scintillating acidity, a key to its versatility on the table; a range of textures from crisp and light to lush and rich; compelling flavors in a citrus-apple-peach spectrum, sometimes accented with honey notes.

As winemaker John Skupny of Lang & Reed winery says, “It’s great to see such a versatile, complex, and delicious grape finally have its day, especially when it comes from so many different regions in the world.” I couldn’t agree more.

9 Chenin Blancs from the United States

2023 Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Chenin Blanc Clarksburg ($18)

Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Vineyard has been making dry Chenin Blanc for decades now, and it’s been a perennial overachiever at its price. It’s fresh and succulent, with flavors that recall melon and grapefruit.  

2024 Rococo Own-Rooted Chenin Blanc ($25)

Winemaker Natalie Brown founded Rococo on California’s Central Coast specifically to focus on Chenin Blanc. She makes a number of single-vineyard bottlings along with this lively multi-vineyard blend, which tastes like a burst of tangerine and melon flavor, then lingers.

2024 Birichino Old Vines Chenin Blanc Jurassic Park Vineyard ($28)

The Jurassic Park Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley was planted in 1978, making these ungrafted vines among the older Chenin plantings in California. This white is fresh and lightly peppery, with a briskly mineral finish. 

2024 Minus Tide Sterling Ranch Chenin Blanc ($34)

A California take on the Savennières style, this alluring, golden-hued white is full of ripe orchard fruit and spice notes, ending on a refreshing bite of acidity. It’s made in minimal amounts (only 84 cases in this vineyard) so contact the winery directly to find it. 

2023 Lang & Reed Mendocino Chenin Blanc ($35)

Lang & Reed founder John Skupny has been a longtime cheerleader for Loire varieties in California. He started with Cabernet Franc, and later added Chenin to his lineup. Wine lovers should be glad, because this white is lightly toasty, with lime zest and ripe citrus flavors, and a luxurious texture. It would be a stellar wine for lobster.

2024 Aperture Chenin Blanc ($35)

Aperture, based in Sonoma County, sources the fruit for this high-toned, passionfruit-scented Chenin from vines in the Clarksburg area, down in the Sacramento River delta. It’s fresh and tingly, and a joy to drink.

2023 Las Jaras Cézanne Chenin Blanc Old Vines ($36)

Joel Burt and Eric Wareheim at Las Jaras named this crisp, apricot-accented Chenin after Burt’s daughter Cézanne. It’s made using grapes from the hillside Norgard Vineyard on the east side of the Ukiah Valley. 

2023 Larkmead Estate Chenin Blanc ($75)

The production is minuscule here — 107 cases — so if you want to track down this full-bodied, luxurious white, head to Larkmead’s website. It’s rich with melon and baking spice flavors and a light hint of toasty oak (the 2024 vintage will also be out soon, if it isn’t already; unfortunately, there’s not much more of it either).

2023 Palisades Canyon Chenin Blanc ($75)

Easily one of the best California Chenins I’ve had, this honeysuckle-scented, complex white is incredibly alluring. The flavors suggest ripe orchard and citrus fruits, with a savory backdrop of chalky minerality and dried herbs. It comes from a tiny 1.5 acre parcel on a historic Napa Valley site near Calistoga.

9 Chenin Blancs from South Africa

2024 Indaba Chenin Blanc ($12)

This is a South African Chenin for lovers of cool-climate New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, bursting with passionfruit character and bright, lively acidity. It’s also a steal for the price, plus each bottle sold helps support early childhood education in South Africa through CORE (Community Rooted Education).

2024 Black Pearl Chenin Blanc ($18)

No oak barrel aging is used for this flinty, juicy white. It comes from bush vines in the Swartland region of South Africa, one of the country’s most exciting wine regions right now. Green apple and green plum notes abound here.

2024 Reyneke Vinehugger Chenin Blanc ($18)

The richness of Savennières-style Chenin is reflected in this South African version. It’s made in a round, rich style, all melon, ripe apple, and wildflower honey, but it isn’t heavy at all—it’s a model of balance, and comes from organically grown grapes, too.

2025 Secateurs Chenin Blanc ($20)

South African winemaker Adi Badenhorst is one of the stars of the wine scene, and for good reason. Even at the affordable level his wines are remarkably distinctive—witness this savory, stony, peachy white.

2023 David Finlayson Camino Africana Old Vine Chenin Blanc ($22)

Bright and almost angular in its tart precision, this pineapple/green apple-inflected Chenin comes from vines planted between 1960 and 1980 in Stellenbosch. Natural yeast fermentation, no use of new oak barrels, plus a small percentage of the wine done in concrete eggs all add to its cleanly etched character. 

2023 Kloof Street Old Vine Chenin Blanc ($23)

Crisp and faintly, faintly prickly on the tongue, with stone fruit and citrus peel flavors, this white comes from three sustainably farmed, 40+ year old vineyards in different parts of the Swartland: one on shale- and schist-based soils, and two others on decomposed granite. 

2023 Raats Old Vine Chenin Blanc ($30)

This Stellenbosch family-owned winery, founded by Bruwer Raats in 2000, draws on old-vine fruit for this flinty, melon-inflected Chenin. It does a good job of balancing richness and dry intensity, making it a great partner for any number of foods, from fillet of sole to roast pork loin. 

2022 Thistle & Weed Duwweltjie Chenin Blanc ($35)

Savory dry herbal notes float above sweet peach fruit in this mouth-coating but vibrant Chenin. Winemaker Stephanie Wild sources the grapes from 62-year-old vines; the name, duwweltjie, is a South African term for the spiny burrs of the devil’s thorn plant, which also grows in the vineyard.

2022 Testalonga Cortez ($46)

The back labels of Craig Hawkins’ wines say simply “made from grapes,” a nod to his non-interventionist winemaking approach. There’s plenty of power here, texture from skin contact, and tropical fruit notes with a savory edge. It would be a terrific wine for nutty cheeses like Comté.  

12 French Chenin Blancs

2021 Alain Robert Vouvray Empreinte ($24)

There’s almost a dusty character to the citrus-apple flavors of this classic Vouvray. It comes from a domaine founded in 1973 just east of the town of Vouvray itself, and is a great introduction to the appellation’s wines (in a dry style). 

2023 Denis Meunier Vouvray Expresion de Silex ($24)

There’s an abundance of juicy orchard fruit flavor – pear, white peach, golden apple – in this brisk, mid-weight Vouvray. It clocks in at a moderate 12% alcohol, making it an ideal aperitif wine, and is made solely in stainless steel to preserve its lively freshness.

2022 Passerelles Anjou Blanc ($25)

From a new range of Loire wines imported by California’s Jackson Family Wines, this Anjou white is supple and appealing, full of stone fruit and melon notes lifted by a light herbal quality. It walks a middle path for Chenin—not as taut and crisp as some, nor as lush and round as others.

2023 Domaine Vincent Carême Vouvray Sec ($30)

Born into a farming family, Vincent Carême made his first wine at the age of 14 (with his grandfather overseeing things) and went on to found his own domaine in 1999. Since then he’s become a go-to name for Vouvray. This white is ripe and apple-scented, with a full-bodied, succulent character. 

2023 Fabien Duveau Hunaudière Saumur Blanc ($30)

Thirty year-old Chenin Blanc vines in the Hunaudière vineyard in the town of Saint-Cyr are the source for this super-crisp white. There’s an impressive clarity and brightness to its zesty white peach and floral notes. 

2022 Domaine Laureau l’Alliance Savennières ($32)

There’s a lovely, lingering wildflower honey character in the finish of this surpringly well priced (for Savennières) Chenin. It comes from several small parcels of younger vines throughout Damien Laureau’s property, all of which are farmed organically, worked by hand, and plowed by horse.

2023 1006 Vins de Loire Azur Chenin Blanc Val de Loire ($35)

Winemaker Pauline Lair works from an urban winery in Angers, sourcing fruit from around the Loire Valley. For this pineapple-inflected, light-on-its-feet white, she sources certified organic grapes from 30+ year old vines in the Anjou area. (The name 1006 Vins de Loire comes from the length of the Loire river itself—1,006 kilometers, the longest river in France.

2021 Domaine FL Savennières ($35)

An up-and-coming star in the Loire, Domaine FL (owned by the Fournier-Longchamps family, hence the name) makes a number of wines from the Savennières, Anjou, and Coteaux du Layon appellations. This wine, FL’s basic AOC Savennières, is lightly earthy, with crunchy quince fruit and a lightly salty finish. 

2020 Domaine des Baumard Savennières ($38)

Baumard is one of the storied names in the Loire Valley’s Savennières appellation, farming a property that has been in the family since 1634. Their basic domaine wine is all nectarine, pineapple, faint almond notes, turning stony on the finish; for even more complexity seek out their famed Clos du Papillon bottling.

2023 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis Sur Loire Remus ($37)

The loss of legendary winemaker Jacky Blot in 2023 was a blow to the entire Montlouis appellation, but his son Jean-Philippe is more than capably carrying on his work, as this lightly spicy, full-bodied but effortless lively Chenin certainly shows. 

2022 Domaine Amirault Les Quarterons Blanc Anjou ($42)

Biodynamically farmed grapes go into this savory white from a sixth-generation domaine in the Anjou region. The savory, honey-and-stone quality partly comes from aging on the lees (spent yeasts from fermentation) for nine to 12 months before bottling. 

2022 Ch. de Plaisance La Grande Piece Anjou Ronceray ($68)

The tingly acidity, crystalline white peach fruit, and flinty finish of this terrific Anjou Chenin justify its steep price. Winemaker Vanessa Cherruau works in the Chaume appellation, which is regulated only for the production of sweet wine; hence this bone-dry bottling’s use of the place name Ronceray. It’s a workaround, borrowed from a 17th century monastery nearby, to refer to vineyards for dry wine located on the Chaume hill itself.