LOVELY Chenin. Some age on it. Characterful. Everything the producer promises on the back-label: “… pear upfront, followed by dried peaches, finishing with lingering tastes of roasted almonds and honey.” Rich and ripe from the moment you put your nose to the glass. And at R75 a bottle from the cellar, Doran Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2013 lives up to Platter’s promise of ‘Highly Recommended’.

Doran Vineyards in Voor Paardeberg, Paarl, but the grapes for this wine – only the second vintage under the farm’s premium Chenin label – are brought in from the Swartland next door. The proprietors are Irishman Edwin Doran and André Badenhorst, previously of Constantia Uitsig. The winemaker is Martin Lamprecht, top student when in his final year of oenology studies in Stellenbosch and previously based at David Nieuwoudt’s Cederberg Private Cellar. More about Doran here.