It was a double celebration today. When one of your favourite wine varietal days falls on the same day as your husbands birthday; it’s a great excuse to pop some crackers! And that’s exactly what we did!
If the Protea is South Africa’s National flower then Chenin Blanc is unofficially our National Grape. Some of the most highly regarded white wines coming out of South Africa are Chenin Blanc based. It’s an immensely versatile varietal and can be produced in a variety of styles. “It is the true chameleon of white grapes and deserves the respect of the world. Unfortunately unlike some of the obvious monolithic varietals, you do need a brain to drink Chenin!” states Neal Martin of the Wine Advocate. It is extremely widely planted in South Africa. We are in fact the largest producer of Chenin Blanc and actually have about 50% of the worlds plantings. The best come from low yielding old bush vines; producing complex wines with great depth of flavour which age extremely well.
