Chenin has been planted in the Loire Valley since at least the early 1400s. It is the primary white grape in the middle Loire appellations of Vouvray, Anjou, Montlouis-sur-Loire and Savennières, where its wines can be dry, semisweet or sweet. (Sweetness is not always declared on the label, making it difficult to know what you’re buying without advance research.) Some appellations, such as Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux, make exclusively sweet wines, while others such as Saumur and Chinon produce dry versions. Chenin also stars in sparkling wines typically labeled as Crémant de Loire.
But even in the Loire, chenin has declined in prominence. The Oxford Companion notes that about a third of the Loire’s chenin vines were grafted over in the 1970s to more fashionable cabernet franc and gamay.
