Chenin Blanc

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

No suite of Swan Valley wines would be complete without chenin blanc, and Garth Cliff knows a thing or two about making decent chenin. In this case, it's been whole-bunch pressed and went through natural fermentation, high solids and just in old barriques. From the start it is an incredibly complex palate-friendly wine that provides yet another spin on this...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

The extra time this wine has had on lees has really brought it into the next dimension. The colour has deepened ever so slightly, and the aromas are saturated with lemony, creamy characters and that faintly tropical influence of the variety. The palate has intensity yet delicacy, due in some way to the marvellous vintage but also to the way...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

If you think you’ve seen chenin blanc, then think again. This is quite a different spin on a variety that has been so important to West Australian wines, and obviously to Houghton Winery in particular. Hence the name EV37, which is a reference to the first Houghton white burgundy that was released and made by Jack Mann in 1937. This...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Another cracking wine under this relatively new label. Fruit is sourced out of the Swan Valley, and that makes absolute sense. It was a warm season that's translated into wine of intensity and texture, but with that typical chenin blanc lift of acidity to elevate it. It's creamy and rich and thoroughly delicious on the palate, with a light tropical...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

I have to say, this is one of the best whites I've seen from Stormflower. It was partially barrel fermented, and this has provided a nice textural and aromatic addition to the nose and palate. It has a creaminess about it, but there's still a racy, energetic mix of tropical fruits and edgy lemon zest, with just a little red...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Here's another example of the versatility of chenin blanc. In this case, making a delightful sparkling wine. It was partly barrel-fermented and then bottle-fermented in a largely méthode traditionnelle way. It's created a wine of freshness and vibrancy, with beautiful fragrant fruit aromas and a palate that is dry, clean, crisp and almost refreshing. It has a lovely, fine, lingering...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

The excellent quality of chenin has been maximised with this specific take on the variety. Wild fermentation in French oak, 10 months on lees and regular stirring have built in complexity, texture and added richness. The variety has excellent natural acidity, and that gives it the fine backbone on which the richer, plush stone fruit characters are based. A little...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

This single-vineyard chenin from old vines on this property has been a strong suit for Aravina for a while. This seems to have been brought back a little with some restraint, but it's certainly lost nothing in intensity and flavour. Plenty goes into it with handpicking, whole-bunch pressing into oak puncheons, and then six months of further maturation. The nose...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Wonderful floral, perfumed white-petal notes on the nose announce this as Swan Valley chenin blanc. In a warmer year, the aromas and flavours are certainly well to the fore, but they're well controlled, with freshness retained by the crisp, lively acidity. The palate has lovely texture and richness, but there's also a purity and pristine character as it fires through...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Here’s a chenin blanc with a little bit of panache, made by wild fermentation in barrel with granite stones. That adds plenty of intrigue and complexity, from the initial take on the nose through to the crisp, minerally palate. Slightly nutty, with light stone fruit notes. The palate is textured but retains that linear precision from the natural acidity of...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This wine comes from the Carabooda Block, just north of Perth. It's a site that's consistently produced some excellent fruit, and this chenin is another cracker. Oodles of tropical, citrusy aromas on the nose. And then a succulent, crisp palate showing a little of the melony, stone fruit, citrus combination you might expect. Clean, refreshing acidity sustains a long finish....

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Gee, this is a good example of the sparkling chenins being made in Western Australia these days. It's made using the traditional méthode champenoise, with early picking that accentuates the natural acidity, and then time on lees to build a creamy complexity. Has a lovely fruity aromatic. And then a palate that is quite soft and fluffy, but with tremendous...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

If you want to understand all the fuss about older chenin blanc from the Swan Valley, then stick your nose in this. Wonderfully exotic aromas of butterscotch, toast, marmalade. All things that come with ageing of this wonderful grape variety. The palate has a delightful purity about it, while the natural fruit is balanced by some quite distinct secondary aged...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

This is a highly intense and powerful statement of the variety. Had 50% in old oak puncheons and the remainder in a concrete fermenter. It’s created a wine of depth and power that captures the 2025 vintage. It has a nice savoury and slightly saline influence on the lightly tropical and stone-fruit characters. It gets about nine months on lees,...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This new face in WA wine was one of my finds a couple of years ago, and once again it has come up trumps, displaying the remarkable qualities of chenin blanc to emerge triumphant even in challenging and very hot seasons. It is a testament to both vineyard management and winemaking. In this case, it leans more into stone fruit...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

A consistently impressive and expressive example of this variety sourced from the Swan Valley. On the nose, you get the usual tropical, albeit lightly tropical, fruits. But then, in this case, there’s a slightly spicy, dried-herb character adding further complexity. The palate is textured and flavoursome, with the light fruits supported by a fine, crisp, natural acidity that is a...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This has been made in the méthode traditionnelle style from grapes grown on the estate. There’s plenty of sparkling chardonnay around these days, and it’s little wonder because it produces excellent sparkling wine. But this one has introduced a little more texture and richness into the natural acidity and fruitiness of chardonnay and produced something really special for this variety....

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

I do like chenin blanc from the Swan, and in this excellent year the result is compelling. Fermented in stainless steel and left on lees before blending, which has given the wine texture and richness while retaining fresh, spicy, citrus and slightly appley characters. The palate is punchy, vibrant and slightly textural, lifted by a splash of citrus on the...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Doesn’t seem to matter where it’s planted, but chenin blanc is always an excellent variety. And this run from the ’25 vintage has plenty of punch and intensity. Typical tropical fruits with melon lemon notes on the nose. Then a generous palate with good intensity and balanced by a crisp, linear acidity contributing to its focus and structure. Nice wine...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Captures the very essence of Swan Valley chenin blanc. This is a lovely wine from this slightly warmer year, so the fruit is generous and intensely flavoursome, but it retains the crisp, natural acidity of chenin, even from the Swan, producing a quite beautiful drink. Lifted aromas of citrus and apple with a slightly Sherbert character. The palate is slightly...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Initially on the nose, it shows a degree of delicacy, but once you get into it, it reveals a whole lot more. It's sourced from the original 1982 planting of the Gallica Vineyard. So these vines are getting nice and old and delivering some great fruit. Floral citrus notes with almost a touch of hay and pear. The clean, crisp...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Chenin blanc makes quite a beautiful sparkling wine, and this one is the perfect example. The aromas show a strongly citrus aptly toasty character, while the palate, which has a natural acidity, has been complemented and developed with the use of time on lees in the bottle. It's added richness and texture and balances that precise acidity. Clean, crisp, and...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

There's a little bit happening in this naturally fermented lo-fi chenin blanc that comes from a vineyard in Margaret River. A small portion of the fruit was pressed to concrete eggs, and this has contributed to its vibrant freshness, especially on the nose. Time on lees with regular stirring has introduced that textural feel into the mid-palate, but the essential...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

This all comes from the old Treeton Estate, which is LS Merchants. Has a portion of handpicked and machine-picked and 5% on skins without plunging, with some treated oxidatively, some fermented in egg, and some in tank and foudre. It’s a leaner style with freshness and vibrancy. Has good weight and texture with a spice and lively freshness. Has a...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Another example of how this variety can manifest itself in so many different regions, producing wines of subtle differences, but always with impressive quality. In this case, the wine's been worked with wild yeasts and some older barrel influence with regular lees stirring. So, you're getting chenin blanc with the natural vibrant acidity offset and balanced with some supple palate...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Another expression of chenin blanc showing just how versatile this variety is across regions. This one has been wild fermented in French oak and then left a further 10 months on lees with regular stirring to build texture and complexity. Yet it’s not overdone. The vibrant fruit intensity is retained, with typical tropical lemony zest still evident, but with added...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

There are plenty of chenin blancs being turned into sparkling wines these days, and this is certainly one of the best. I particularly like the expression of the fruit, which has a purity and pristine qualities that highlight the traditional and typical melon-like tropical fruits and crisp acidity that are part of the variety. It also has texture and flavour...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

In recent times, this has been a winner for Voyager, but this is a slight style departure. It is certainly made into a drier style, and there is an increasing combination and contribution from the older base wine. It also gets a longer time on lees, and that seems to take off that slightly tart acid character. There are loads...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Chenin blanc has been a strength of this vineyard since the early days. This is a slightly different take on the variety, with French oak playing a significant role. Whole bunch pressed into French oak puncheons and matured for eight months, it delivers both texture and flavour. The natural acidity of chenin, even in this warm year, shines through. Nutty...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

This wine was sourced from Margaret River in what was a very good year for these white aromatics. It is a crisp, fresh and zippy chenin displaying citrus tang, some creamy textural elements and a racy, lively finish. If you can’t enjoy this on a warm summer’s afternoon, you are hard to please.

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This is a simply delicious example of this famous variety from the Swan. Aromas are quite floral with notes of pear, apple, and a slightly pastry crumble character. The acid is clean and crisp, and there is a lovely textural feel on the palate, which will continue to evolve with further cellaring. These are just thoroughly scrumptious wines for drinking...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Another of the very good chenin blancs coming from Margaret River these days. This one's made without any oak, so it's designed to be a real window into the fruit and the season. It has a nice mix of lightly tropical fruit, with an apple and pear combination and a cut of fine lime. The palate displays a lovely combination...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This captures everything you want in this variety, sourced from Conti’s Carabooda Tuart Block. It’s a generous chenin with plenty of tropical fruit flavours and a trace of citrus cut by fine, delicate acidity. Clean and flavoursome, with a slightly tropical pineapple character adding to its appeal.

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

The Contis have been making chenin blanc for a long time, and they know a thing or two about it. In this case, they’ve turned some excellent fruit into a lovely sparkling wine. It retains the vibrant natural acidity that defines the variety, while time on lees has introduced a creamy richness to the palate. Fragrant, lively and fruit-driven, with...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

A wonderful example of Swan Valley chenin blanc. Fermented in stainless steel and left on lees prior to blending and bottling. The result is tremendous depth of fruit with a lively, sprightly palate of spicy citrus, apple and tropical fruit. Lees influence gives a slightly creamy texture that balances fine, precise acidity, carrying through to a long finish. A terrific...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

This wine was introduced a couple of years ago, and it's an absolute cracker. It's made from hand-picked Swan Valley chenin blanc, which was then bunch sorted before a very gentle pressing. This gets the most from the beautiful fruit, which, despite the warm year, was exceptional. This isn't a big fruit bomb. In fact, it's quite spicy and fine...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Each year, Peterkin produces one of the most interesting takes on chenin blanc. In this case, it went through both barrel and amphora after wild fermentation, then received fortnightly lees stirring. The result is a wine that retains the beautiful aromatics of chenin with a slightly citrusy melon and apple tropical character, but then builds in a texture which combines...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Now, this is a pretty smart example of chenin blanc from Margaret River. It’s started with some very good fruit displaying the typical citrussy melon characters. And then 25% was put into oak. It’s been judged perfectly, because while the oak is not intrusive, it does impact on the palate structure and profile, creating a wine of greater complexity. It’s...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

Griffiths introduced this wine a few years ago, and you can immediately see the essential difference between this and the standard chenin. The richness and weight on the palate, along with the added complexity, are immediately apparent. It captures all that’s good about chenin blanc, with bright acidity, intense fruitiness, and, with the pressings, another layer of immense appeal. A...

Swan Valley

Chenin Blanc

It was a very good season for chenin blanc in the Swan Valley, and this one is living, vibrant proof. It's not the big fruit bomb that you often get, but instead, there is a highly flavoursome, controlled, linear expression of the variety with subtle, understated stone fruits and florals, with a fine citrus edge, and even a little lemon...