THEY MAKE at least half a dozen Chenins at the Stellenrust winery in the Helderberg and another at their boutique ArtiSons cellar in Bottelary. Even the ‘standard’ version (currently R89pb) has won at the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Challenge before and is one of three Stellenrust wines with such good reviews over the years as to be included among the
A NUMBER of things come to mind on perusal of the 2022 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge results. One is how many of the top wines originate in old vineyards, four of which include vines over 50 years old. Another is the depth of quality shown by the leading producers, some of them shining with Chenins other than
FOR DECADES the top white wine in DGB’s premium Bellingham range was labelled The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc: WO Coastal Region, with grapes from Bottelary in Stellenbosch playing the leading role. Come 2020, a single-vineyard version was released, 2018 being the maiden vintage, the fruit from Durbanville plantings dating back to 1983 and with the front label proclaiming
HOW ABOUT THAT! Less than a month after the 2020 Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin in DGB’s Bellingham portfolio was included among South Africa’s Top 10 Challenge winners, it went on to score 95/100 at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London. The 2020 Donkiesbaai Steen from the Guardian Peak cellar is also a multiple award winner, having received good
CONSISTENCY is a wonderful thing, as is the emergence of new stars and the resurgence of others. It would be surprising should Stellenrust and DeMorgenzon not feature among the Top 10 in the annual Challenge staged by the Chenin Blanc Association of South Africa, sponsored by Standard Bank. Ditto two other Stellenbosch cellars, Kleine Zalze and Ken Forrester –
SA WINE LOVERS might struggle to remember a time – not so long ago – when there was only a single bottle of note from the Alvi’s Drift cellar in Worcester: a Muscat de Frontignan, a small bottle and in small quantities, but a fine example and one of South Africa’s Top 10 fortified dessert wines to this day. In
WHAT a lovely line-up of champions in the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge. Not one from a cellar in the Swartland, Bot River or Paarl in 2020… But hey, two wines from Worcester winery Alvi’s Drift, a first-time winner in this competition convened by the Chenin Blanc Association of South Africa. And while Stellenbosch didn’t dominate, four cellars from
TWO WINES among the 2019 Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge winners, two wines among the Top 10 Chenins in the 2019 SA Wine Classification. None of the other top Cape Chenin producers can make this claim. Such is the quality of the Stellenbosch vineyards and of proprietor Kobus Basson’s team of winemakers, even their sub-R100-a-bottle Cellar Selection is included in the
WHAT a lovely collection of stories and images associated with the 2019 edition of the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge! A new label on David Nieuwoudt’s Five Generations. Classical music playing to the vines and wines at Wendy Appelbaum’s DeMorgenzon. A tribute to Cape Town’s company gardens (artwork on back label). A river analogy from Flagstone. A
SUCH CONSISTENCY! Virtually all of the 2018 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge winners are regular visitors to the podiums at various competitions, with five of their beauties among the top Chenins in the SA Wine Classification and three in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame. From various districts and wards, the champions include a range of styles. The
“THE CHALLENGE with Chenin Blanc is that there are so many styles,” comments Top Wine SA reader Peter F May. “The names [of the 2017 Top 10 Challenge winners] give no indication where they are on the dry-to-sweet scale, and, apart from the three with ‘barrel fermented’ in their names, how much if any wooding they’ve had. Did the judges prefer wooded,
IT WAS NO surprise to see DeMorgenzon, Spier and Stellenrust among the Top 10 in the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Challenge 2017. All Classified wines, with Stellenrust also in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame, and all multiple winners of the SA Chenin producer association’s Top 10 award. The only wine to place among the laureates in all four
THE WINNERS of the 2016 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge include five of the top wines in the SA Chenin Classification based on track records spanning the past 10 years. Of these beauties, two stand out as the country’s most successful Chenins on local and international podiums this year: DeMorgenzon Reserve 2015 and Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2015, with the KZ also
A CLASSIC Wine Trophy in the first quarter of the year, a trophy at the International Wine Challenge in London during the second quarter and then selection among the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 in the third… It’s a wonder that the 2014 DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc hadn’t already sold out by the time the Chenin Blanc Association’s latest awards
THE LATEST round of awards for SA white wines at the inaugural Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge again raises the issue of what South Africa hangs or should hang its hat on – in other words, what the industry’s strong suits or trump cards are. Certainly there’s a case to be made for Chenin, and if Chenin is to
