Why chenin blanc is one of the most underrated wine grapes of all time

Chenin blanc ranks among the most underrated wine grape of all time in terms of its quality potential. When grown and made with care, as with this California example, its wines can be spectacular. Combining the aromatic finesse of riesling with the tactile opulence of chardonnay, chenin blanc rivals the finest of white grapes.

However, chenin blanc has struggled to shake off a bulk-wine reputation because its strengths are so easy to exploit in making cheaper wines, especially sweeter wines.

Depending on decisions made by vintners, any green grape can make wine that is still or sparkling, sweet or dry, oaked or unoaked. Whether the wine is lightweight or heavyweight is determined by how ripe the fruit is at the moment of harvest. Most wine grapes perform better in one or two styles, and people come to know what to expect from them. Sauvignon blanc is almost always dry and unoaked, for instance, while riesling is more often made to be sweet. Chardonnay is usually dry but fuller-bodied and often oaked, and almost every other grape has a similar “classic” style.

This is where chenin blanc has a truly perverse problem from a marketing perspective — it is simply too good at making too many styles to have carved out any single recognizable stylistic niche. This makes every bottle purchased a bit of a leap of faith for the buyer, who can’t be sure quite what they’re going to get. That’s why it is so helpful that Dry Creek Vineyard shares this wine’s technical data right up front, confirming that the wine is made in a style that is light in body, at only 12% alcohol, and quite dry. Most vintages contain less than half a percent of residual sugar, which is well below the threshold of perception for most drinkers.

Where many California chenin blancs are barrel-fermented as if they were chardonnays, this wine’s back label confirms that it is unoaked. In the glass, the wine has strong green apple and golden apple flavors, accented with notes of mandarin orange and honeydew melon. It is brisk, clean, and dry and makes an excellent partner for sushi or heirloom tomatoes.

Clarksburg, California; 12% ABV

PLCB Item #86917

On sale for $15.99 (regularly $17.99) through Aug. 30

Also available at: Moorestown Super Buy Rite ($13.49) in Moorestown, N.J., moorestownbuyrite.com; Hopewell Super Buy Rite ($15.99) in Pennington, N.J., buyrite.wine; and WineWorks ($16.98) in Marlton, N.J., wineworksonline.com.