Treasures of chenin blanc revealed
Gauteng wine lovers about to get the message
THE best-kept secret in the world of wine is about to be divulged to Gauteng. We’ve known for some time, here in the Western Cape, that chenin blanc is one of the most versatile and underrated cultivars around but now the sommeliers of South Africa’s wealthiest province are about to convey the message to discerning wine drinkers.
Tsogo Sun group sommelier Miguel Chan, in Cape Town attending a blind chenin tasting with the Black Cellar Club last week, says he is surprised when Gauteng diners skip the chenin blanc page of wine lists because of a perception that lower-priced wines are of inferior quality.
“Chenin blanc is delicious, versatile and under-priced. It is therefore by far the best valuefor-money white wine in South Africa.
“Not only do we produce as much chenin as all the other countries in the world together, the wines we produce are of stellar quality – some even better than those produced in the traditional home of chenin blanc, the Loire Valley.”
About 8 000 hectares are planted with chenin blanc in this verdant region of central France, less than half that grown in South Africa. The wines can be wooded or unwooded, used in a still, sparkling or fortified style, or even as brandy or a dessert wine.
“Chenin blanc might have been born in the Loire, but it went to school in South Africa,” laughs Teddy Hall, dubbed the King of Chenin Blanc because he was one of the first winemakers to recognise its potential when he started plying his trade two decades ago.
Often spotted cruising through Stellenbosch vineyards on his Harley-Davidson motorcycles, he long ago told a leading export agent that chenin blanc would be the white wine upon which South Africa would make its name in the US. He was pooh-poohed as someone who didn’t know what he was talking about.
“This exporter, who represents more than two dozen South African farms, currently sells more chenin than any other cultivar in the US.” As for the French? “The Loire Valley records a ‘great’ vintage once every seven years. We do so six times out of seven.
“If we had to put 20 chenins from France and the same number from South Africa in front of an unbiased judging panel, we would beat them hands down every time.
“The French held an event around 2001 called Rendezvous de Chenin. It wasn’t a competition to determine the best or worst, but simply one to show- case the best expressions of chenin blanc.”
That year, he says, the international panel gave the South African wines the overwhelming thumbs-up in the dry wine category. The same thing happened two years later when the event was held again.
Rendezvous de Chenin never took place again.
Chenin blanc is reputed to have been among the earliest vine cuttings brought to South Africa in the time of Jan van Riebeeck, but its origin got lost and, through quirks of history and language, it was renamed “steen”.
It was only in 1963 when Professor Chris Orffer, head of viticulture at Stellenbosch University, was visiting the Loire Valley and compared the leaves of the two cultivars that he discovered they were one and the same.
Since 1974, the first year of official records, chenin has been the most planted cultivar in South Africa. The number of hectares planted has dropped as other cultivars grow in popularity but chenin still makes up for almost 20% of total area under vine.
Chenin is grown – and grown well, according to Hall – in the Swartland, Voor-Paardeberg (from where Taillart is also about to present its spectacular Watershed Bordeaux-style red blend), Stellenbosch, Paarl and Breede River Valley.
Sauvignon blanc is still by far the most popular white wine locally but chenin has recently put a lot of pressure for second place on the previously popular chardonnay. Domestic chenin sales (in terms of 750ml bottles) have gone from almost three million in 2010 to 4.53 million last year and the five-year projection is that market share will grow consistently at predominantly chardonnay’s expense.
“If you look at it, there are just over a dozen outstanding local producers of chardonnay while there are easily between 30 and 40 producers of great chenins,” maintains Hall.
“Chenin is not the ‘flavour of the day’ and never has been. In fact, when I started making wines, it was almost a neglected cultivar.”
Chenin’s history and popularity is a double-edged sword: the top-end labels such as DeMorgenzon, Stellenrust, De Trafford and Ken Forrester come from ageing vines that need to be replaced. Nonetheless, the “fresh and fruity” young offerings from Kleine Zalze, Simonsig, Mullineux, Eben Sadie and Opstal will keep the quality and popularity wheels rolling.
Prices, though, will inevitably rise and, says Hall. “It won’t be too long before we lament ‘the good old days’ when we could get a really good chenin for under R100.”
The good news is that, while younger vines are maturing, bottled chenin blanc has an ageability that is unmatched among white cultivars and collectors can cellar their treasures for decades to come.
“Some years ago, I represented the Cape Winemakers Guild at a tasting of eight decades of chenin from a single producer in the Loire and they were all fantastic!” says Hall.
“There’s no reason why the same shouldn’t be true for some of the South African producers.”