Chenin Blanc
| Chenin Blanc | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | Pineau de la Loire, Pineau d'Anjou, in South America Pinot Blanco, Steen - for more see section Synonyms |
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| Art | Grape vine ( Vitis vinifera subsp. Vinifera ) |
| Berry color | golden yellow |
| use | |
| origin | France |
| VIVC no. | 2527 |
| List of grape varieties | |
Chenin Blanc , also Chenin blanc , is a widespread, old white wine variety that has been grown in France (in Anjou - Touraine ) since the 9th century. The variety is very productive and if the yield is limited the quality of the white wine made from it is excellent.
origin
Pierre Galet reports that the grape variety has been known in the Anjou area since 845. In the early 15th century it came to the Touraine as Plant d'Anjou ( French : Plant of Anjou ).
In Gargantua and Pantagruel , a novel cycle, the 5 volumes of which appeared in 1532, 1534, 1545, 1552 and 1564, the author François Rabelais mentioned the grape variety and praised its healing properties:
"When this was done, the shepherds and shepherdesses let themselves be excellently at ease with the rolls and noble grapes, waved around in a circle with each other according to the lively goat whistle, and mocked the loud-mouthed gentlemen awakening knights that they started so badly because they would not have blessed the cross with the good hand early in the morning: and washed the Forgier's sore legs with coarse weeds (*) so neatly that he was soon healed. "
Together with the Gouais Blanc grape variety, the Balzac Blanc , Meslier-Saint-François and Colombard grape varieties were created through natural crossings . DNA analyzes in Austria and France also showed a parent relationship to Sauvignon Blanc . A study published in 2010 suggests that the Chenin Blanc comes from Sauvignon Blanc x Roter Traminer .
Ampelographic varietal characteristics
- The shoot tip is open. It is hairy whitish, light green, with a carmine-red tinge.
- The yellow-green young leaves are lightly woolly hairy and spotted bronze (anthocyanin spots).
- The medium-sized, bright green leaves are rounded, five-lobed and moderately deep. The stem bay is lyren-shaped open. In the vicinity of the stalk bay, the leaf veins are reddish in color. However, this does not apply to all clones. The blade is bluntly serrated. The teeth are set closely in comparison to the grape varieties. The leaf surface (also called blade) is blistered and rough.
- The cone-shaped grape is usually shouldered, has one or two secondary grapes, is medium-sized and has dense berries. The round to oval berries are medium-sized and golden yellow in color. The peel of the berry is thin, but very crisp.
Maturity: Chenin Blanc ripens around 12 to 15 days after the Gutedel. Internationally, it is therefore still one of the early ripening varieties.
distribution
France
Vineyards (as of 2007): 9,756 hectares. (Source ONIVINS) The vigorous vine shoots early and ripens late - both characteristics that predestine it for the cooler Loire Valley. There are excellent qualities from appellations like Anjou , Bonnezeaux , Chaume , Coteaux de l'Aubance , Coteaux du Layon , Jasnières , Montlouis , Quarts de Chaume , Saumur , Savennières , Vouvray and Crémant de Loire .
In particular, the wines with the designations of origin Bonnezeaux, Chaume, Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume are made sweet, while the vineyards of Savennières not far from them produce mainly dry white wines. In the Savennières wine region there are two individual sites with a great reputation and their own AOC:
- Savennières Roche-aux-Moines, 19 hectares in size, owned by several winemakers, therefore not very homogeneous in quality. Great wine when it comes from a good producer.
- Savennières Coulée-de-Serrant, 6.85 hectares, owned solely by the Nicolas Joly family from the Château de La Roche-aux-Moines winery. The wine from this south-west facing location on the banks of the small Serrant stream is one of the most expensive white wines in France and is sought after worldwide.
The wines from Anjou, Coteaux de l'Aubance, Jasnières, Montlouis, Saumur and Vouvray as well as the sparkling wine Crémant de Loire cover the entire spectrum of the flavors dry, semi-dry and sweet. The pronounced acidity of the wines predestines them for the production of the sparkling wines Crémant de Loire and Vouvray. Outside the Loire, the Chenin is contained in the sparkling wines Blanquette de Limoux (share well below 10%) and Crémant de Limoux (share 20–40%).
Most of the Loire wines are 100% varietal from the Chenin . In the appellations of origin Anjou, Saumur and Touraine, however, an addition of max. 20% of the Chardonnay and / or Sauvignon Blanc grape varieties allowed.
Even for the simple Anjou Blanc, a maximum yield of 45 hl / ha is required. In other areas such as B. in Central Valley (California) three to four times the yields are achieved. So it is hardly surprising that the Chenin character appears quite neutral except on the Loire.
South Africa
See also the main article Viticulture in South Africa .
Vineyards (as of 2007): 19,161 hectares.
In South Africa is about grown twice as much Chenin as in France (2007). The variety, usually called Steen at Cape, holds 18.8% of the vineyard area there. It was not until 1965 that the connection between Chenin and the variety grown on the Cape was recognized. It is very likely that Jan van Riebeeck's vine came to the country in 1655 through a vine collection. In 1685 150 French Huguenots came to the Cape. They are considered to be the first winemakers in the Cape Colony and are likely to have found the grape variety on site. However, for several centuries it was only known under the name Steen. It was only in 1965 that it was possible to prove that Steen and Chenin Blanc are identical. International interest in Steen has been aroused since the 1960s when South African winemakers came up with attractive white wines. This was preceded by considerable investments in new cellar technology such as B. temperature-controlled fermentation tanks. The result was fresh, acidic wines that served a mass market. It is only since the late 1990s that some winemakers have been trying to produce first-class wines.
The majority of the vineyards are in the Paarl and Worcester regions , but Malmesbury in Swartland also has considerable plantings.
California
See also the main article Viticulture in the United States .
In California (→ Viticulture in California ) the Chenin has a larger area under cultivation (9,489 acre, as of 2007) and, similar to South Africa, it is largely used as an anonymous basis in everyday blends for pleasantly fresh white wines. In California, the variety is also likely used to stretch cheaper Chardonnays and add acid to them. Only in northern regions can the grape take on a characteristic taste reminiscent of melons and musk .
Australia and New Zealand
See also the main articles Viticulture in Australia and Viticulture in New Zealand .
In Australia, the area under vines is 642 hectares. (As of 2008) The Chenin Blanc goes mainly in blends with the blending partners Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Sémillon . Vineyards are found in Tasmania , New South Wales , Victoria , South Australia and in the Swan Valley and Margaret River zones in Western Australia . The wine author James Halliday describes the Chenins of Australia as a fruity wine without any varietal character. Only the wines from Western Australia show good beginnings in working out a varietal typicality.
In New Zealand the population had fallen to less than 100 hectares in 2004. Originally the grape served as a blending partner for Müller-Thurgau. However, some wines from the northern island were able to demonstrate the quality potential. As long as the commercial success of the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay varieties continues in New Zealand, hardly any quality initiatives to improve the Chenin wines are to be expected.
South America
Both Argentina (3,030 hectares, as of 2005) and Chile have larger stocks. As a rule, the stocks are heavily irrigated; the strong varietal character of the Chenin is thereby blurred. The result is simple, fresh wines in reliably high quantities.
properties
Chenin Blanc is prone to noble rot ( Botrytis cinerea ), which is why it is often used for good sweet wines. The versatility of the grape becomes clear when one considers that from it because of their high acid content on the one hand sparkling wines are produced, they simultaneously but in other regions as a table grape is sold. The Chenin sprouts early and is accordingly sensitive to spring frosts. However, if the wood is well ripened, it is characterized by a sufficiently good winter frost hardiness.
It is a rather difficult grape variety in terms of viticulture, but it has a large cultivation width compared to other grape varieties. It is susceptible to powdery mildew and downy mildew , but also to gray mold rot .
Synonyms
Agudelo, Agudillo, Anjou, Blamancep, Blanc D'Anjou, Blanc D'Aunis, Blanc Emery, Blanco Legitimo, Bon Blanc, Canton, Capbreton Blanc, Chenen Belyi, Chenin, Chenin Bijeli, Confort, Coue Fort, Cruchinet, Cugnette, Feher Chenin, Franc Blanc, Franche, Gamay Blanc, Gout Fort, Gros Chenin, Gros Pineau, Gros Pineau De Vouvray, Luarskoe, Mancais Blanc, Pera, Pineau Blanc, Pineau D'Anjou, Pineau De Briollay, Pineau De La Loire, Pineau De Savennieres, Pineau De Vouvray, Pineau Gros, Pineau Gros De Vouvray, Pineau Nantais, Pineau Vert, Pinet D'Anjou, Pinot Blanco, Pinot D'Anjou, Pinot De La Loire, Plant D'Anjou, Plant De Breze, Plant De Clair De Lune, Plant De Maille, Plant De Salces, Plant De Salles, Plant Du Clair De Lune, Plant Vole, Pointu De Savennieres, Que Fort, Quefort, Rajoulain, Rajoulin, Ronchalin, Rouchalin, Rouchelein, Rouchelin, Rougelin, Rousselin, Rouxalin , Rouzoulenc, Senin, Steen, Stein, Tete De Crabe, Tite De Crabe, Ugne Lombarde, Vaalblaar Stein, Verdot De Montlucon, Verdurant, White Pino.
literature
- Pierre Galet : Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages. Hachette, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-01-236331-8 .
- Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon. 3rd, completely revised edition. Hallwag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .
Individual evidence
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↑ Gargantua and Pantagrruel, Book 1, Chapter 25 , in a translation by Gottlob Regis . For the translation, Regis chose the term Rüssling, which is more common in German usage. In French, the original is as follows:
“Ce faict, et bergiers et bergieres feirent chere lye avecques ces fouaces et beaulx raisins, et se rigollerent ensemble au son de la belle bouzine, se mocquans de ces beaulx fouaciers glorieux, qui avoient trouvé maleounter par lazy de s'estre seignez de la bonne main au matin, et avec gros raisins chenins estuverent les jambes de Forgier mignonnement, si bien qu'il feut tantost guery. "
- Rabelais : Gargantua et Pantagruel - ↑ John E. Bowers, René Siret, Carole P. Meredith, Patrice This, Jean-Michel Boursiquot: A Single Pair of Parents proposed for a Group of Grapevine Varieties in Northeastern France. In: Alain Bouquet, Jean-Michel Boursiquot (Ed.): Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Grapevine Genetics and Breeding. Montpellier, France, 6-10 July 1998 (= Acta Horticulturae. No. 528). International Society for Horticultural Science - Section Viticulture - Working Group on Environmental Physiology of Fruit Crops et al., Leuven et al. 2000, ISBN 90-6605-892-7 , pp. 129-132, doi: 10.17660 / ActaHortic.2000.528.15 , ( online (PDF; 19 kB) ).
- ↑ Guido Cipriani, Alessandro Spadotto, Irena Jurman, Gabriele Di Gaspero, Manna Crespan, Stefano Meneghetti, Enrica Frare, Rita Vignani, Mauro Cresti, Michele Morgante, Mario Pezzotti, Enrico Pe, Alberto Policriti, Raffaele Testolin: The SSR-based molecular profile of 1005 grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) accessions uncovers new synonymy and parentages, and reveals a large admixture amongst varieties of different geographic origin. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics. Vol. 121, No. 8, 2010, pp. 1569-1585, doi: 10.1007 / s00122-010-1411-9 .
- ↑ LES CEPAGES BLANCS DANS LE VIGNOBLE (PDF) ( Memento from March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), statistics on white grape varieties per Greater Region, Part 1, publication of the OFFICE NATIONAL INTERPROFESSIONNEL DES FRUITS, DES LEGUMES, DES VINS ET DE L'HORTICULTURE - ONIVINS for short, as of 2008
- ↑ LES CEPAGES BLANCS DANS LE VIGNOBLE (PDF) ( Memento from March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), statistics on white grape varieties per greater region, part 2, publication of the OFFICE NATIONAL INTERPROFESSIONNEL DES FRUITS, DES LEGUMES, DES VINS ET DE L'HORTICULTURE - ONIVINS for short, as of 2008
- ↑ South African Wine Industry Statistics ( Memento of 19 December 2014 Internet Archive ), released in June 2008
- ↑ California Grape acreage 2007 Crop (PDF; 655 kB) ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, published April 2008
- ↑ Areas of vines and grape production by variety - 2007-08. In: Annual Report 2008–2009. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, 2009, p. 89 , accessed November 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Chenin Blanc in the database Vitis International Variety Catalog of the Institute for Vine Breeding Geilweilerhof (English)
