Chenin Blanc is a French white grape, one parent Savagnin Blanc, made in its Loire homeland in styles from bone-dry to sparkling to botrytized sweet. California's own numbers show a retreat from what was once a Central Valley mainstay: bearing acreage has fallen from 19,126 acres in 2000 to 4,051 acres in the latest report, though it still spans 29 counties. Here it has mostly been used as a neutral, high-yielding blending grape for inexpensive white wine, with only a small share bottled as a varietal wine on its own.
What kind of grape this is
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- BLANC
- Country of origin
- FRANCE
- Parentage
- SAVAGNIN BLANC×unknown
- Synonyms
- 76
- Approved on a US label
- Chenin blanc
- FPS selections
- 5
confirmed by DNA markers
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Chenin Blanc, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 610
county-years of acreage
29 counties, 4,051 bearing acres in 2025
- 379
district-years of crush
16 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 379
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 17
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
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Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 16 districts on one axis →
loading crush report…
Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
loading must chemistry…
Growers in this atlas's roster
- Bedrock Wine Co.bottled
Winery · Heritage Wine, Nervo Ranch Heritage Wine, Oakville Farmhouse Vineyard
- Black Stallion Winerybottled
Winery · White Blend
- Chappelletbottled
Winery · Signature Chenin Blanc
- Dry Creek Vineyardbottled
Winery · Chenin Blanc, Sparkling Chenin Blanc
- Field Recordingsbottled
Winery · Jurassic Park, Shell Creek
- La Jotabottled
Winery · Restricted Chenin Blanc, Restricted Proprietary White Wine
- Larkmead Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Estate Chenin Blanc
- Raymond Vineyard & Cellarbottled
Winery · Small Lot Rutherford Chenin Blanc
- Ridge Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Ridge Heringer Chenin Blanc 2024, Ridge Heringer Chenin Blanc 2025, Ridge Historic Vines Blanc 2024 and 1 more
- The Prisoner Wine Companybottled
Winery · Saldo Chenin Blanc
- Abbot's Passagelisted
Brand · Chenin blanc, Verdejo
- Aperturelisted
Brand · Chenin blanc
and 5 more in the roster, each listing it without a named wine in the atlas.
17 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 10 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.
Measured chemistry, from one producer's own sheets
Ridge Heringer Chenin Blanc 2024
100% chenin blanc13.3 %
alcohol
—
pH
—
TA
—
RS
Ridge Heringer Chenin Blanc 2025
100% chenin blanc13.2 %
alcohol
3.43
pH
7.21 g/L
TA
—
RS
Ridge Historic Vines Blanc 2025
14% chenin blanc14 %
alcohol
3.6
pH
6.7 g/L
TA
—
RS
Ridge Historic Vines Blanc 2024
2% chenin blanc13.2 %
alcohol
3.68
pH
6.14 g/L
TA
—
RS
4 wines from 1 producer, each read from that producer’s own tech sheet and linked to it. No average is shown, and none should be computed from these. Wineries that publish tech sheets are selected by their own marketing departments, so a mean across them describes publishing habits rather than a grape.