How often does a wine scribe get to share a table with ten
winemakers and viticulturists with a passion for the same variety? The Chenin
kings conversed about the virtues of old vines, noble rot and new clones at the
inaugural Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge at Delaire Graff winery in Stellenbosch
in August. We tasted two different top ten wines paired to each of five courses
created by Christiaan Campbell, one of South Africa’s top chefs (he leaves
in October after five years at the estate).
Wines from Stellenbosch cellars dominated the competition. The
winners of the 2014 Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge in alphabetical (unranked) order
are: Bellingham Old Orchard 2013, Klene Zalze Family Reserve 2013, KWV The Mentors
2012, Perdeberg Dryland Collection 2013, Remhoogte Honeybunch 2013, Stellenrust
2014, Rijk’s Private Cellar 2009, Simonsig Chenin Avec Chêne 2010, Villiera
Traditional Barrel Fermented 2013 and Woolworths Spier Private Collection 2013.
“The time for Chenin has come” declared Ken Forrester,
chairman of the Chenin Blanc Association, “Chenin Blanc is THE white wine of South Africa”.
While 50% of plantings of Chenin worldwide are in South Africa (where it makes
up 17% of the national vineyard) - more even than in the Loire Valley, home of
the variety - the Cape also claims to own the largest number of old vines in
the world. The Chenin kings celebrated the comeback of the variety over a glass
of Ken Forrester’s Sparklehorse, a new MCC made from Chenin Blanc which
celebrates the rising fortunes of the workhorse and former Cinderella of the
South African wine industry.
“Chenin Blanc is a huge asset to South Africa” comments Christian Eedes, chair of the Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge - a competition formely established by Wine Magazine to raise the profile and help develop key styles of the variety. On the debate over wooded versus unwooded styles, he emphasises that only one of the top ten wines is unwooded. “Judicious oaking adds complexity - while unwooded wines are great for everyday drinking”. The average price of the winning wines is R110, he adds, an indicator that “the premiumisation of Chenin Blanc is well underway.”
Co-judge Alan Mullins adds, “Chenin Blanc has been
under-rated for so long in South
Africa. Chenin is a hidden gem. It offers
more value than many other wines and drinks well across all price-points from
the bargain, entry-level to the top at R250.
Jamie Goode, the international judge on the panel, focused
on “The wide variety of styles and flavours - the versatility of South African
Chenin is a strength and challenge to communicate to consumers.” While the
styles of the 126 entries in the Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge varied from
wooded to unwooded, fresh and fruity to rich and ripe, nine of the ten winning
wines were made from vines aged twenty years and older up to forty years. Judge
and wine retailer Carrie Adams adds, “From a retail perspective Chenin Blanc
could play a huge role in South
Africa - as both the VW beetle and the Rolls
Royce. It is not a one-dimensional dry white wine.”
Chenin Blanc has even won the celebrity endorsement of the
sundance kid. The audience was shown a video interview with Robert Redford shot
during his recent visit to Franschhoek, where he comments, “Chenin Blanc came into my life via my
experience in South Africa”.
A wine enthusiast who owns vineyards in California, Redford says “When I heard
about Chenin Blanc I thought I'd never had that and when I had it, I knew I’d
found something fresh and exciting - so much so that I’ve now become a fan of
Chenin Blanc. If I can help promote it, I’d be happy!”
Making winning wines begins in the vineyard - and it was great
to see the turn-out of viticulturists along with the winning winemakers.
Stephan Joubert, viticulturist at Bellingham,
who works with Niel Groenewald, comments, “Chenin Blanc is not as affected by
virus as other varieties. We get good, healthy botrytis on Chenin in
Stellenbosch. We try to buy as much old vine Chenin as possible. ‘Stop the
tractor’ is our cry! You have to pay growers more - from R3000 to R6000 per ton
- to stop them from pulling out their old low yield Chenin Blanc. We did that
in Swartland recently”.
Tasting at a table with winemakers and viticulturists from Bellingham, Kleine Zalze,
KWV, Simonsig and Villiera is a learning curve in what makes SA Chenin Blanc great.
The secret of old vine Chenin is simply “the crunch” conclude RJ Botha and Dirk
van Zyl from Kleine Zalze, who commented on how “the natural crisp acidity of
the hard berries translates into the balance, feel and texture of old vine
Chenin Blanc”.
Chenin has been the star of many wine tastings I’ve attended over the last year from the flagship Bosman Vineyards Optenhorst 2011 and Nederburg The Anchor Man 2012 to Doran, Opstal Carl Everson 2012 and Waterkloof’s Seriously Cool Chenin 2014. At a recent tasting of Allee Bleue releases at Carne on Kloof, winemaker Van Zyl du Toit talked about the art of building complexity into his Chenin Blanc 2014. He combines the rich and ripe style of Chenin Blanc from Franschhoek with the fresh minerality of Chenin from Walker Bay, barrel-ferment in 20% new oak for six months, and adds a dash of Viognier to lift the aromatics - “like adding salt ‘n pepper to food” he laughs.
Chenin Blanc is the hero white variety for many cellars from
Ken Forrester and Kleine Zalze to Mullineux and The Winery of Good Hope. Winemaker
RJ Botha led a tasting of flights of domestic and export labels of Kleine Zalze
Chenin - their focus white variety. We tasted components from three terroirs in
the blend. RJ explained “Different soil types, elevations, canopies and regions
produce distinct styles of Chenin. We make a diversity of styles for different
markets.” Of their best-selling Bush Vine Chenin Blanc, he says “This is Chenin
the way we want to make it - fresh ‘n fruity with balance, a full mouthfeel and
length. We’re looking for purity of fruit.”