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 Legends, Spier, Stellenrust and Wildekrans are less dry than the others, with the latter the lowest strength at 13% Alc. The 2018 Top 10 are all wooded (46 of the 159 entries were unwooded), most of the wines are from vines more than 27 years old (the Stellenrust is from 53-year-olds), and two of the winners are priced at under R100 a bottle!

CHENIN BLANC TOP 10

Cederberg Five Generations Chenin Blanc 2016
From 12-year-old vines; 11 months in barrel (33% new)
R225 pb ex-cellar, Cederberg

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc 2017
From 46-year-old vines; 10 months in barrel (20% new)
R375 pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch Kloof

Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2016
From vines 35 to 65 years old in Stellenbosch, Malmesbury and Perdeberg; 12 months in barrel (20% new)
R269 pb ex-cellar, Napier

La Cave Chenin Blanc 2016 (Wellington Wines)
From 27-year-old vines; 12 months in barrel (100% new)
R120 pb ex-cellar, Wellington

Legends Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2016 (Slanghoek)
From 29-year-old vines; 26 months in barrel (100% new)
R196 pb ex-cellar, Slanghoek Valley, Breedekloof

Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Chenin Blanc 2016
From Voor-Paardeberg vines 20 years old on average; 9 months in barrel (2nd & 3rd fill)
R90 pb ex-cellar, Franschhoek

Mulderbosch Steen op Hout Chenin Blanc 2017
From vines aged 20 to 30 years plus in Stellenbosch and Darling; 28% aged in barrel (2nd & 3rd fill)
R70 pb ex-cellar, Polkadraai Hills, Stellenbosch

Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2017
From 33-year-old vines, WO Tygerberg; 14 months in barrel (60% new)
R198 pb ex-cellar, Stellenbosch

Stellenrust Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2017
From 53-year-old vines; 9 months in barrel
R200 pb ex-cellar, Helderberg, Stellenbosch

Wildekrans Barrel Select Reserve Chenin Blanc 2017
From 36-year-old vines; 12 months in barrel (30% new)
R265 pb ex-cellar, Bot River

THE PANEL OF JUDGES: Masters of Wine Cathy van Zyl MW (chair), Richard Kershaw and Simon Field (UK), James Pietersen (Wine Cellar) and sommelier Tinashe Nyamudoka (Test Kitchen).

Wine analyses and the panel’s tasting notes available on request, with more information about the competition on the Chenin Blanc Association’s website.