Chenin blanc (known also as
Pineau de la Loire among other names), is a white
wine grape variety from the
Loire valley of
France. Its high
acidity means it can be used to make everything from
sparkling wines to well-balanced
dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled. Outside the Loire it is found in most of the
New World wine regions; it is the most widely planted variety in
South Africa, where it is also known as
Steen. The grape may have been one of the first to be grown in South Africa by
Jan van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to that country with
Huguenots fleeing France after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes in 1685. Chenin blanc was often misidentified in Australia as well, so tracing its early history in the country is not easy. It may have been introduced in
James Busby's collection of 1832, but C. Waterhouse was growing Steen at Highercombe in
Houghton,
South Australia by 1862.