Sweet thang

Chenin blanc overcomes its image problems

by David Marglin

UNCORKED

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Once upon a time, sweet was good. Even into the 1970s, American wine tastes leaned so far toward the sweet that French wine producers would ace wines being exported to the US with an extra dollop of sugar. No longer -- over the past two decades, dry wines have been in fashion with serious wine drinkers, and sweet wines have been relegated to the dessert course, or dismissed as cheap plonk.

The more I drink, however, the more I find that a little sweetness can be very appealing in white wine. Which brings us to chenin blanc, a grape well known in France but not much appreciated here in the US. It makes excellent dry wine with a touch of sweetness.

In France, it produces the wonderful sweet, and occasionally off-dry, wines of Vouvray, as well as other Loire Valley whites. There, it is sometimes referred to as pineau de la Loire, although it has no relationship to the pinot family of grapes. In South Africa, where it is called steen, it is the leading white variety.

Chenin blanc used to be very popular in this country, too. In the early '80s it was the second most extensively planted white grape in the country, after chardonnay. Since then, chenin has been eclipsed by sauvignon blanc, by white Rhone varietals, and even by pinot gris. David Stevens, sommelier of the noted Tra Vigne restaurant in St. Helena, in the heart of Napa, laments that it's hard even to find a good chenin to put on his list.

To some extent chenin has been the victim of overzealous marketing. In California, the varietal used to be sold as "white pinot." Much like "Mountain Burgundy" or "Chablis," this was a deceptive marketing ploy that did more harm than good. In 1955, the Charles Krug winery, run by Peter and Robert Mondavi, won a gold medal for its chenin at the Sacramento State Fair; in Mondavi style, they called the wine simply "Chenin Blanc."

Today, much of the chenin blanc grown in this country still goes into cheap jug wines, which contributes to its lingering bad reputation. But a couple dozen wineries do make serious wines from it. Chenin blanc has a lot of acidity to balance out the residual sugar, and the combination gives winemakers a whole lot of room to play with stylistically. I expect we will see more winemakers looking to make chenin blanc, or chenin-based blends.

A good thing, too. Wines with a hint of sweetness, like chenin, make great accompaniments to many foods, especially those with some spice. Big dry California chardonnays are certainly worth drinking, but for less than $15 you are going to get a more interesting (and perhaps more enjoyable) experience out of chenin blanc -- if you can find it. In Massachusetts, even the best wine stores are likely to have, at most, only a handful of dry chenin blancs.

Almost all dry chenin-blanc wines cost less than $20. They're easy to drink, with plenty of flavor and a sweetness that is both interesting and natural -- no sugar has been added for the purpose of pleasing our palates. And though most of the chenins you see on the shelves are absolutely ready to be consumed now, you'll be okay laying away a bottle or two -- owing to their high acidity, these wines age well. I'm a huge fan of aged Vouvrays, and their sweetness comes through more when the acids have been tamed by time.

We are, most of us, creatures of habit -- we know we like chardonnay, so we stick with it (and we know we like Saintsbury chardonnay, more specifically, so we order that whenever we see it). So it's taking some time for Americans to get more adventurous in selecting wines. Here's some incentive, though: for around $10, chenin blanc makes fine wine to sip while watching the Red Sox contend for the wild card. Here are some selections to share with your fellow fans:

Latah Creek 1994 Chenin Blanc ($8.99, Martignetti's). Stunning chenin from Washington State, where they still care a lot about this varietal. This little number would give many a top Vouvray a run for its money, with layers of mango and pineapple and a sweet, plenty crisp finish.

Pine Ridge 1998 Chenin Blanc Napa Valley ($10.99, Marty's). Cut with about 15 percent viognier, this is a marvelous wine with plenty of tropical aromas, but with some peach tart thrown in for good measure. It is clean and lively, not crisp, but with a long, elegant finish. Very alluring.

Champalou Vouvray 1997 ($12.99, Winecellar of Silene). The Loire is still the place where, in a good year, the best chenin blancs are made. This wonderful wine has superb balance and an excellent feel on the tongue. You can taste apple, some melon, some guava.

Dry Creek Vineyards 1998 Clarksburg ($8.99, Wine Cask). Drier than most (residual sugar is a mere .7 percent by weight, compared to the more usual .9 percent and up), this wine has melony hints, with a crisp mouth feel. Needs some time in the bottle, but it ought to be a beaut.

David Marglin can be reached at wine[a]phx.com.

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