Chenin Blanc Styles

One of the grape varieties that we are growing is Chenin Blanc. We fell in love with the flavor and range of styles that Chenin Blanc wines can achieve, so we planted it. We also planted Chenin Blanc because we wanted to make a wine that would pair well with the local foods and since our local foods increasingly includes oysters as well as the long established seafoods, scallops and lobsters, Chenin Blanc is a natural.
Chenin Blanc is a grape variety associated with the Loire Valley, France. Jancis Robinson writes in Wine Grapes that it was initially planted in Anjou, but likely got its name from being planted in Montchenin, a monastery near Corméry by Denis Briçonnet, the Abbot of Corméry. Between 1520 and 1535, the Abbot planted many varieties of grapes but one that did especially well was called Plant d'Anjou. When the grape was propagated across the Touraine region the variety took its name from Montchenin and was called Chenin.
The Loire Valley produces Chenin Blanc in a variety of styles. The map below will provide some guidance as to what regions produce Chenin Blanc.¹

The bottle label is not necessarily indicative of the style, instead, the label will say in what region the Chenin was made. Nevertheless, there are regions where a certain style predominates. I tried to gather the information to provide a guide as to the various styles of Chenin Blanc that you might find in the various Loire regions. They are tabulated below.

Locale	Wine Style	Flavor Attributes
Vouvray Savennières Saumur Anjou	sec (dry)	lean, crisp, green apple, lemon/lime, mineral, flint, gravel
Vouvray Savennières Montlouis-sur-Loire	demi-sec (off-dry)	ripe pear, ginger, jasmine, passion fruit, and honeycomb
Vouvray Bonnezaux Coteaux de l'Aubance Savennières Quarts de Chaume Coteaux de Layon	moelleux (mellow/mild)	dried persimmon, toasted almond, mango, ginger, and mandarin orange.
Vouvray	doux (sweet)	honey
Vouvray Saumur Montlouis-sur-Loire	Sparkling Crémant de Loire	quince, yellow apple, plum, ginger, and floral notes

References:
1. The map of the Loire region is from Wine Tour France.
2. J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, pg 236-239.
3. Casten, Damien, Chenin Blanc: Beginners Guide to Wine.
4. Wine Folly, Chenin Blanc.