X-rated: South African Chenin Blanc just can’t be beat!

Friday, 25 September, 2020
Wines of South Africa (WOSA) , Fiona McDonald
Making that statement 20 years ago would have evoked guffaws of laughter and hearty thigh slapping; at the very least a light tittering of sympathy and a disbelieving head shake. Chenin Blanc was just not sexy enough. Nowadays it’s so hot and titillating it should come with an adult XXX-rating!

Vineyards comprising one-third of the country’s plantings... blah-blah, overcropped and used for bland, large volume wines... yadda yadda. Everyone’s heard it all before. The remarkable thing is just how rapidly the transformation of a massively overlooked and unloved category has occurred.

Kudos should be paid to those like Ken Forrester and Irina von Holdt CWM, WINE magazine and Michael Fridjhon who championed its cause. As well as to winemakers like Jean Daneel, Jeff Grier, Martin Meinert, David Trafford and Teddy Hall who also took up the challenge.

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