Chenin is an old grape variety that has been cultivated since the ninth century in the heart of the Loire Valley between Anjou and Touraine, where Mont Chenin is located and from which it takes its name. It was undoubtedly appreciated very early on for its robustness, high-yielding ability, versatility and sensitivity to botrytis, which made it a preferred grape variety for sweet wines produced from passerillage and noble rot. These sweet wines contributed to the reputation of the Loire vineyard for centuries. But everything changed in the 20th century: with replanting after phylloxera, chaptalisation, the use of chemical fertilisers and over-productive clones, the quality of the liquid gold faded and prices fell.

The crisis was severe from the 1970s onwards. And during all this time, while the focus was still on sweet wine – with the exception of Savennières and a few Vouvray producers – dry Chenin was an afterthought, the wine produced once the bunches intended for sugar had been picked, often leaving just the green and rotten grey grapes. Hence its terrible reputation, and so many misconceptions.

It was not until the 1990s that things really changed – with the arrival of pioneers, often from outside the region, initially lured to the Loire by a passion for its sweet wines. In search of the alchemy of botrytis, winemakers such as Jo Pithon, Pascal Baudouin, Joël Ménard, then Mark Angeli and Richard Leroy reintroduced a viticultural style based on quality and not quantity, which included the championing of organic and biodynamic production, plus tries (multiple picking sweeps) and grape sorting. In vintages that did not allow the production of sweet wines, they made dry wines with the same attention as they gave their moelleux, using the best grapes at their peak of ripeness. It was a revelation.

While botrytis is invariably synonymous with a certain oxidation, requiring a lot of protective So2 in its making, these pioneers also tried to limit sulphur additions, decreasing some of the aromatic defaults, enhancing the bouquet, and also allowing malolactic reactions to occur. A new world opened up, revealing dry Chenin wines as an extraordinary incarnation of terroir.

Behind the current profusion of Loire Chenin in a style that seems ill-defined, wine history is being written before our eyes: there’s energy, experimentation and diversity behind the bottles one can find. Since we are not talking of an historic paragon – like those established for decades in Burgundy or Alsace for decades – the region’s winemakers, from the neo-vigneron to the historic families, can play it their way. From schist, sand or tuffeaux (limestone) soils, electing for or against malolactic conversion, experimenting with maturation in wood or in vats, making their wine dry or with a few grams of sugar, AOC or Vin de France… the choices are endless. The contemporary landscape of Loire Chenin is very exciting, driven by convinced winemakers, pioneers or newcomers – and the result is an exceptional level of quality and ageing for the price. Here are a few key examples among dozens of others – and this is just the beginning…