MORE LAYERS THAN AN ONION

It’s not often that an onion is the hero of the plate, so the Famous Onion Blossom at Gibson’s (see review above) deserves to be famous indeed.

A giant onion, dusted with seasoning and then deep-fried, it was perfect for sharing as a starter — its piquant dipping sauce so delicious that I kept some aside for my thick-cut fries.

The wine match was pretty obvious: the Gibson’s house chenin blanc with its ripe, rounded fruit-salad flavours and zippy acidity (R23/glass, R90/bottle). “Chenin is growing on me,” admitted Mr G (before switching to beer for his burger).

If it’s taken me a good decade to persuade my own husband that South African chenin is amazingly versatile with food, thanks to its naturally high acidity, I’m not likely to persuade everyone else in this short column. But it’s South Africa’s most widely planted grape, giving producers abundant fruit to choose from, and it also accounts for most of our oldest vines, typically resulting in more intense and complex flavours.

Unfortunately older vineyards can become economically unviable, which is why the Optenhorst bushvine chenin vineyard in Wellington — planted in 1952 — was almost uprooted in 2007.

“We realised that we needed to rethink this,” says Corlea Fourie, winemaker at Bosman Family Vineyards, after tasting the grapes. “Three months later we tasted the wine from the barrel . . . and we were speechless.”

The Bosmans now gladly pay a premium for Optenhorst fruit, which is gently basket-pressed, left to ferment naturally, then matured in French oak barrels for nine months. Fresh and elegant at 13.5% alcohol by volume, the Optenhorst 2011 (R180) bursts with pure stonefruit flavours, its almond nuances hinting at the honeyed nuttiness to come if you can resist drinking it for a few years.

Serve with Onion Blossom. Serve with most things.