ntilthe late 1990s, Chenin Blanc was the workhorse of South Africa’s wine industry – the principal variety used for brandy distillation, as well as the base wine of most commercial bulk white blends. But over the past three decades the value of Chenin Blanc, in price and perception, has rocketed. Part of the grape’s popularity arose due to its chameleon-like ability to make almost any style of wine: from traditionalmethod Cap Classique sparklings to sweet botrytised dessert styles, and everything in between. Today, Chenin Blanc still constitutes 18.6% of the Cape’s vineyard plantings.
In one of Decanter’s biggest-ever panel tastings, we tasted 223 cuvées from across South Africa. It was a fascinating three days of judging in which we were impressed by the quality and consistency of winemaking and breadth of different styles, particularly from the elegantly fresh 2021 vintage.
‘Anyone who enjoys Chenin Blanc will find plenty to love here,’ said Beverley Blanning MW. ‘Chenin Blanc is easily influenced by the presence of other varieties – as we saw in a few blends with Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne and others – but more often by oak. Its delicate nature requires careful handling in the cellar to produce wines of quality. These results show abundant evidence of confident winemaking for South Africa’s signature grape.’
With his chef and sommelier hat on, Roger Jones commented that premium South African Chenin Blanc has many similarities to New World Chardonnay, offering a fresh, vibrant style perfect for food matching.
‘The best have punchy, fresh stone fruits, elegant oak assimilation, overt wet-stone minerality and that fabulous Cape fynbos note of sweet rose, lemon thyme and peppermint,’ he said. Time in bottle was also needed to appreciate them at their finest, he added.
Swartland was the standout region, all judges finding a real sense of place coupled with great individuality. There were some world-class examples, showing savoury depth, pungent smokiness and tangy saline intensity. Alcohol levels were typically a little lower than in other regions, allowing the thrilling acidity and crystal-bright fruit purity to shine.
Unsurprisingly there was a large entry from Stellenbosch, featuring many excellent wines conforming to a classic profile of South African Chenin Blanc: bold, ripe yellow fruits and toasty oak. ‘The top-scoring Stellenbosch wines provide hugely satisfying drinking and lingering layers of complexity,’ enthused Blanning.
As a panel we were impressed by the number of value wines that, more often than not, hit the quality mark. Nevertheless, there were some less desirable characters we hope producers will iron out in the future. Jones highlighted ‘hints of banana and tinned fruit’ from inoculated yeasts and wines that were ‘overly polished and perfumed’, while Blanning was less thrilled by those imbalanced through excessive alcohol or oak, mostly from the 2020 vintage.
However, with 98% of wines earning the equivalent of a bronze medal or higher, in terms of bang for your buck, you simply cannot find more characterful white wine in the world than South African Chenin Blanc.
THE SCORES 223 wines tasted Exceptional 0 Outstanding 28 Highly recommended 108 Recommended 82 Commended 5 Fair 0 Poor 0
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Chenin Blanc still whites, including single-varietal wines or blends containing a minimum 85% Chenin Blanc
THE JUDGES
Greg Sherwood MW is a London-based South African Master ofblog at and judges at several wine competitions worldwide
