Wine/Miele Professional Top Chenin Blanc Public Tasting

March 23, 2007

On Monday evening, my brother and I attended the Wine/Miele Professional Top Chenin Blanc Public Tasting at the Mount Nelson Hotel in the heart of Cape Town.

The venue was beautiful - an old colonial style hall complete with decadent chandeliers and opulent lighting - the makings of an esteemed tasting!

The wines were presented to us by Mike Dobrovic of Mulderbosch and he proved to be a very amiable and extremely knowledgeable host - not to mention somewhat philosophical, comedic and one partial to poetic prose.

The ten wines on show for the evening are listed below, in order of presentation:

KWV Val Du Chene Chenin Blanc 2004 (winner)
Dry. Lime, mineral and subtle apricot flavours.

Beaumont Hope Marguerite 2005
Lovely perfume aroma’s, with flavours of canned pears and salty finish.

V Generations Chenin Blanc 2005
Very powerful nose and full in the mouth too. Distinct Paw-Paw and sub-tropical fruit flavours. Long finish.

Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc Steen op Hout 2006
Soft and gentle flavours - mineral and dried apricot.

Kanu Wooded Chenin Blanc 2004
Light toasty flavours and delicately wooded. Like having peach, apricot and roasted nuts drizzled in honey!

Klein Zalze Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2005
Beautiful finish - lasts forever. Full in the mouth and syrupy. Reminiscent of the flavours you pick up from canned peaches.

Bellingham The Maverick Chenin Blanc 2005
Toffee/Butterscotch and toasty nose. Like your favourite orange marmalade. Bloody Marvelous.

Kleine Zalze Bush Vines Chenin Blanc 2005
Very strong pineapple notes - almost like baked pineapple! Roasted nuts on the nose.

The FMC Forrester Meinert Chenin 2004 (runner up)
Wonderful nose - slightly chalky/dusty. Somewhat dry and probably needs more time to develop. Some petrol like notes to be honest, reminiscent of Viognier.

Rudera Robusto Chenin Blanc 2005
Initially velvety in the mouth, but disappears with a short and dry finish. Minerals and flower honey flavours.

I wasn’t overly impressed with either the winner or runner up of the challenge, with my pick for the evening being the Bellingham The Maverick Chenin Blanc 2005. But then again that is just my opinion and after all these things are always subjective.

However, what is apparent, is that South African Chenin Blanc is simply outstanding and world class - if not the best in the world.

Cru Master

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