Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chenin Blanc offers attractive scents of honeysuckle, lemon thyme and cold stone scents on the nose that takes a couple of minutes to really get going. However, there is clearly very fine delineation here. The palate is fresh and crisp on the entry, that slightly waxy texture lining the mouth and complementing the lemongrass and (again) lemon thyme notes. I appreciate the energy and tension here, whilst the salinity on the aftertaste leaves the senses utterly refreshed.
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Wine Spectator
A ripe, well-built version, with a large core of yellow apple, white peach and melon flavors carried by well-embedded acidity. The finish picks up lilting honeysuckle and verbena accents, showing just a subtle hint of toast at the very end. Drink now through 2020.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.