Tuesday, 9 February, 2021
Wines of South Africa, Fiona McDonald
The country has the most plantings of Chenin in the world – and fully 18% of the national vineyard is comprised of this grape. The bulk of these plantings can be found in the beautiful Breedekloof area around Rawsonville and the Slanghoek valley.
Contrast the 2001 Platter Guide in which not a single Chenin was deemed worthy of a 5 Star rating to the current 2021 edition in which a whopping 33 laid claim to top honours – the single largest category!
And standing proud in that honour roll is the Wade Bales Breedekloof Chenin 2019, the third in the wine negociant’s Regional Series. Bales’ premise in bottling his eponymous range is simple: if you had a first time visitor to the country and wanted them to have a snapshot of what region does which wine best, that’s what’s in the bottle. He did it with Constantia and Sauvignon Blanc as well as Stellenbosch and Cabernet Sauvignon.
But it was just seven years ago in 2014 that the Breedekloof, long recognised for the charms and quality of its sweet wines, produced the first Platter 5 Star Chenin, the 2012 Carl Everson Chenin Blanc from Opstal. Attie Louw was its maker and the seventh generation to farm Opstal.
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