Ground breaking work has been done in the last decade by Ken Forrester, Martin Meinert, Eben Sadie and many many more. Chenin Blanc's regionality and uniqueness are embedded in its diversity – whether it is style, drinkability, finesse or elegance – one thing is sure – it has a certain 'je ne sais quoi'. 2012 has proved to be a great year for Stellenrust in terms of Chenin Blanc, being blessed as one of the largest growers of bush vine Chenin Blanc in Stellenbosch. The variations in soil and age of vineyards contribute largely to the array of styles offered by Stellenrust. These Bottelary vineyards gave birth to the first ever Olympic wines being served as the London 2012 Chenin Blanc partnering up with leading UK importer, Bibendum, to make this possible. The Stellenrust Premium Range Chenin Blanc (ARP R40 per bottle) is a wild yeast fermented wine from a variation of 25-35 year old vineyards. It walked away with a Veritas gold medal, a listing under Christian Eedes Top 12 wines for 2012 as well as the Trophy for the Best White wine on the SAA business class selection for 2013. Its big brother, the Stellenrust 47 Chenin Blanc 2011 (ARP R120 per bottle), a single vineyard wine made from vineyards planted in 1964 took the greatest honour of bringing home the International Trophy for Chenin Blanc at the International Wine & Spirits Competition as well as the Fairtrade White wine Trophy at the Michelangelo wine awards being awarded a Double Gold medal. One thing that is clear about Chenin Blanc, whether or not it comes from the Stellenrust stable – it offers great consistency. It has the potential to do for South Africa, what Sauvignon Blanc has done for Nieu Zealand, Shiraz for Australia or Malbec for Argentina - bearing in mind that not all of it was necessarily good. As Chenin optimists believe the golden drops from this widely planted variety throughout South Africa, holds the key to international success, we salute those in vineyard and winery chasing Chenin Blanc’s ‘je ne sais quoi’.