South African Chenin Blanc comes into its Own
KMW Promotes the Award Winning Varietal in South Africa
The grape variety Chenin Blanc was first known as Steen in South Africa, and one of its chief proponents was the KWV, a South African cooperative run by the state who encouraged farmers to plant Chenin Blanc in great volumes. In the end they had so much of the stuff, they didn’t know what to do with it.
Just an Ordinary Old Brandy Grape
No, that’s not quite right: They did know what to do with the stuff. Aside from churning out Steen wines they used it as a distilled wine in brandy making. And when you consider that the K.W.V.’s brandy cellar in Worcester, in the Western Cape, is the largest brandy cellar in the world, you’ll know too that they had plenty of Steen because it is, along with Ugni Blanc, one of the favoured brandy grapes.
The August Mr Waugh
Then, some time in the late 80s, Auberon Waugh, the son of author Evelyn Waugh, wrote in his regular wine column in The Spectator that South Africa’s Chenin Blanc (Steen) was the most underrated cultivar in the country. This made a few people sit up and go ‘Huh?. Are you serious?” And then they took another look at Steen whose name was changed to the more elegant-sounding Chenin Blanc.
Its Slow Rise To Fame
Winemakers began experimenting with Chenin Blanc’s geographics, and of course, trying out new things in the cellar. But still no big deal until, about two years ago, Eric Asimov of the New York Times devoted his Wine of the Times editorial entirely to the glories of South African Chenin Blanc, comparing it with the best Chenin Blanc of the Loire Valley in France, the traditional home of the varietal.
The wine tasting panel of the New York Times tasted 25 bottles of South African Chenin Blanc and concluded that the country is today teeming with good Chenin Blancs, wines of “…freshness and character with prices that make them exceptional values.”
One of the members of the wine panel, Philippe Buttin, a former sommelier at Le Bernardin, and who spent years as a sommelier in the Cape, was full of praise for the South African Chenin Blancs: “It’s remarkable how far they’ve come,” he said. “These wines used to be for distillation and now there are some very serious wines.”
A Winner from the Stellenbosch Wine Region
The Asimov panel’s top-rated wine received a laudable three stars and was from the Raats Family Wines. It had a “crisp, refreshing quality and pure Chenin Blanc aromas of lime, flowers and a touch of honey.” The Chenin Blanc that made it to number two position, was 2005 Fleur du Cap, made in The Bergkelder Cellars in the Stellenbosch region. This winery buys in grapes from selected vineyards all over the Western Cape and has distinguished itself as one of the foremost wineries in South Africa. Its Chenin Blanc was described as “bright, fresh and minerally, with the classic Chenin Blanc signature of tart-and-honey. It’s delicious …”
Whilst these are good wines, they are not yet great, Asimov admitted. According to him, farmers are only beginning to experiment seriously with which grapes grow best where, and as they zero in on the better sites, the wines should continue to improve.
The Hidden Gem
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