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history
Tracing Chenin
Blanc back to its noble roots
Chenin Blanc has a long history. It's thought to have been established in
the Anjou region of France as long ago as the ninth century and was
probably known then as Chenere. The variety was renamed Chenin Blanc,
after Mont Chenin, in the 15th century soon after being exported to the
Touraine region in the Loire Valley.
Chenin Blanc also
has a long and interesting history in South Africa and is
believed to be amongst the first vine cuttings that arrived here
in 1655 during the time of Governor Jan van Riebeeck. Early
documents refer to three varieties: Groendruif (Semillon),
Fransdruif and Steen. It seems that the origin of the names
Fransdruif and Steen are intertwined. There is a theory that the
name 'Steen' developed when the Dutch who settled in the Cape
decoded 'Listan' to 'La Stan', then 'De Steen' and finally,
'Steen'.
Early opinion had it
that Steen was of Germanic origin, supported by the evidence of
a handwritten note, by Governor Simon van der Stel, on wine
quality, that mentioned that wine made from Steen was comparable
to quality German Stein wines. This saw the introduction of the
Germanic spelling 'Stein'. After an extensive, but unsuccessful,
Germanic and eastward search for the origin of Steen, the
variety Franche (from which Fransdruif might originally have
taken its name) provided the answer. This variety was also
apparently known by the French, as Chenin Blanc - and
approximately thirty other names. In 1963, the then Head of
Viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch, Professor C.J
Orffer, matched Steen and Chenin Blanc leaves and finally
pronounced Steen, Chenin Blanc.
Steen first came to
prominence in the first half of the twentieth century as a base
for South African brandy. In the 1960s, Lieberstein, a
semi-sweet blend of Steen and Clairette Blanche, enjoyed
phenomenal success.
It was, for a while,
the world's bestselling single brand of wine. At a different
level, but just as spectacular, Nederburg Edelkeur, a Chenin
Blanc Noble Late Harvest, provided ample evidence of the quality
that Chenin Blanc can deliver.
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