Seriously, Chenin Blanc may just be the MVP, VIP, and OG of all white wines.
Hear me out.
I first became acquainted with Chenin Blanc when I was a wine rep flogging a portfolio that included Marc Brédif Vouvray. In a somewhat revealing admission, it did take me some time to appreciate that Vouvray was a place and not a random grape variety (How I ever got that job remains a mystery!) What I did know — quite emphatically as it turned out — was that it was absolutely the duck’s nuts and one wine I knew I could sell without trying.
Showcased to my customers as the “Absolute White All Rounder” this was a white wine that could transcend seasonal demands and all wine scenarios…
Dark days of Winter? Lightly cooled Marc Brédif Vouvray quaffed alongside a pork sausage cassoulet ought to warm the cockles. Bright, white heat of a Summer sunset? Chilled Marc Brédif Vouvray served alongside a prosciutto and melon salad will tantalise and refresh or scoff a gobby, freshly shucked oyster doused in some mouth-puckering vinaigrette and trust me — your Brédif will still find its balance. Got a mate who won’t drink Chardonnay but wants to share a bottle? Marc Brédif baby. Marc Brédif every-single-bloody-time.
This article is not brought to you by Marc Brédif but it should be.
That wine label went a long way to please me whenever I opened a bottle and quite frankly, that’s all I really ask of a wine. The Bredif style reliably expressed itself as if the most earthen umami musky stuff had wrapped itself around the freshest citrus tree, while some ethereal breeze passed over it all. God, it was like drinking poetry!
To clarify — Vouvray is a place. It sits on the north bank of the Loire River in the Touraine sub-region, and it’s famous for bringing us the world of Chenin Blanc. The Loire Valley, the place that hosts the Loire River, is in France. Being French, there are rules and regs around what vitis vinifera might be planted, grow, survive and thrive there so as to be deemed un Produit de France.
Vouvray may be where I started to get hooked on this gear but in a fortunate turn of events, New Zealand winemakers are clearly wooed by this wonder-white too. No longer subjected to always-everytime choosing a bott of Bredif, the current Chenin Blanc offering available from our local makers up and down the country are quite something to behold. They’re delicious and you need to know about them. Non, you MUST know about them!
I’ve got my own ideas on who to recommend here, but when you have a cohort of people with vastly more knowledge and access to producers than I do, it pays to let them take over the mic. So, I spoke to our Pete at By The Bottle and asked if he’d mind sharing some enlightenment from his experience with this particular fruit because, like all the magical wines out there, even CB changes with the weather and the place from which it is grown.
Before Pete takes you by the hand and guides you through the valley of our versions, I would like to make an honourable mention: Millton Vineyards.
James and Annie Millton were absolute innovators in organics and biodynamics but it appeared, to me at least, that they also shared Chenin Blanc first — and fiercely.
The reason I make this an honourable mention is because a) their wine was and has always been, magni-fucken-fique and b) 2025 spells the last ever vintage from this absolute stalwart winery.
Personal situations have changed, climate change seems intent to offload on the east coast, global economic pressures have weighed heavily and the family succession, that many of us hoped for but had no right to expect, has not been forthcoming.
I’m saddened because as drinkers, we’ve just lost one of our finest farmers and makers. Equally though, I’m so pleased and proud of that family for their contribution to our wine industry — they truly cut the path for many of our producers — and for making the decision to bow out on their own terms.
I owe them all a lot for enlightening me and surprising me with the wines they’ve made over the years — officially since 1984 but really since Annie’s old man planted vines the 1960s. If you find a bottle of Millton “anything” but particularly Chenin Blanc — buy it (buy two). It’s your last chance to taste a little bit of New Zealand wine history. Righto - here’s Pedro…
Pete Connell is a co-owner of By The Bottle, alongside John Connell and Ashley Roberts. We lean on these guys to bring the facts to what would otherwise be the chaotic ramblings of a wannabe wine writer.
It’s timely for us to mull over this grape. In reviewing 2025 at By The Bottle, Chenin Blanc was a standout, showing the biggest growth in sales out of any variety. Yes, benchmark wines from classic Chenin regions like the Loire Valley and South Africa contributed to that growth, but a larger proportion of sales came from small New Zealand producers. To be clear however, vineyard plantings of Chenin make up just 0.05% of producing area nationally, less than that of Gewürztraminer, Albarino, Viognier, Gruner Veltliner or Semillon.
Though small in production, there’s still an exciting diversity of styles being made here. As in France, it's made into both sparkling and still wines. It can be lean and mean, or rich and lush. It can be bone dry or richly sweet. Being a grape that buds early but ripens late, it has the potential to express the full length of the season. And with its signature high acidity, it maintains a nervy freshness in any style.
We join Morv in giving due credit to the Millton’s for their decades-long commitment and love for Chenin, produced in an exuberant, generous style. For us there are two other particular vineyards that are well worth noting - Ian and Linda Quinn’s Two Terraces in Hawkes Bay, and the Johns family’s Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough. Both are growers, with their fruit going into the hands of other producers (although the Johns do make a small amount of wine under their own Wrekin Vineyard label).
From Two Terraces, Halcyon Days follow one of the Loire traditions of producing sparkling wine from Chenin Blanc, with a lively, citrusy Pét-Nat. Organised Chaos produce an understated, unadorned, mineral style that has to be one of the best value wines on our shelves. Amy from Amoise has gained quite the following for her Two Terraces Chenin. Foot crushed and left on skins overnight, it’s successfully both expressively fruitful and taut. The Three Fates teamed up with Gordon Russell, the famed, long-time winemaker at Esk Valley, to produce a hedonistic Chenin with incredible richness and texture (sadly sold out, we eagerly await the next release of this wine).
From The Wrekin, Meltwater by Corofin is a supple, fruitful expression with lovely underlying minerality. Superstar Ashleigh Barrowman has cleverly played around with both still and sparkling iterations from this vineyard (both unavailable currently). And finally under The Wrekin Vineyard label, and made by Hätsch Kalberer formerly of Fromm, the Libby’s Block Chenin is a precise, linear and tightly packed, dry style.
With all these styles from just two small vineyards, we’d argue there’s a Chenin to be found for any wine drinker.
Thanks for reading this Not Serious journal entry. Hopefully it inspires you to buy and try some of the New Zealand Chenin Blanc wines that are on offer. A small percentage of what is made here, but a mighty fine wine and one worthy of gathering up your pals for a wine tasting.
