South Africa Swartland Chenin Blanc
It was our last three days in South Africa and I had decided to spend them in Swartland, a region just north of Cape Town. I had tasted a Swartland Chenin Blanc back in the UK months earlier and it literally blew my taste buds with the sheer complexity that you’d expect maybe from a top Burgundy Chardonnay. So, I decided to go and see with my own eyes what was going on in this region of the Western Cape.
It was early December and summer was in full swing in the southern hemisphere with temperature at 35 degrees Celsius.
We had been driving for a good half an hour in our rented car from Paarl, past Wellington, heading north-west towards the heart of Swartland - Malmesbury and into the Riebeek Valley. All I could see around me was a desert like landscape unrolling, mile after mile. I kept asking myself, at what point does it become green? Surely vines are not growing in this scorched land, covered in red sand and swept by a hot dry wind.
I could only imagine what was going through my wife’s head as she had expected to turn up at a winery and taste some wine; however nothing on the landscape suggested this was going to happen.
And then it happened.
Slowly, over the horizon, gentle hills unfolded the secret mystery of this dry and sun-drenched land: rows and rows of bush trained, gnarly vines, sprouting like muscly arms from the red sand. My eyes glared, my nose went immediately to the richness of that Chenin B. and it all made sense: the back of the label said ‘dry farmed’, ‘old vines’, ‘bush trained’…it was all there. Miles of it.
Image copyright: Marcello D’Onofrio
Since then, I have become a little obsessed with this geographical appellation and I have sourced and tasted some truly interesting bottles of Steen (that’s what Chenin Blanc is called in South Africa!) from this neck of the woods.
What enticed me is the fact that I found these Chenin beautifully unpolished, with a beeswax & rubber quality to the nose which shuns away from more ordinary aromas found in other oaked white grape varieties. The oak is used carefully, and traditionally, small and new barrels are avoided.
These wines often spend months on the lees, which adds savouriness to the ripe fruits, reminding me at times of Fino and Manzanilla Jerez; the fruit itself, being very ripe, sometimes comes through as candied.
Image copyright: Marcello D’Onofrio
The waxiness follows through in the mouth as it feels almost glyceric, with a considerable weight on the tongue which is however elegantly lifted by a citrusy acidity which makes me think of grapefruit and bergamot. And again, as the wine oxygenates, often a darker, smokier and earthier character emerges from the retro nasal.
What makes these wines so unique is that producers made a switch in focus towards the abundance of old vine plots (often abandoned) – that occurred some 20 years ago - ensuring the highest quality of fruit which over the years has contributed into making Swartland’s Chenin Blanc today a reference for absolute quality.
Image copyright: Marcello D’Onofrio
Swartland Chenin Blanc is not your standard ‘white wine for fish’.
Chenin Blanc’s layered complexity and savoury character makes it super versatile and a very exciting pairing for many dishes, including spicy asian food. In fact, it is no surprise that it matches well with both the Cape Malay and Indian cuisine, two important subcultures of South Africa. I often had it paired with meat dishes such as butter chicken curry or traditional South African Bobotie. Fish dishes such as pan fried scallops or smoked salmon with creamed pasta; or vegetable dishes such as courgette tart tatin or onion and cheese Quiche. When pairing Swartland Chenin Blanc with food, I find it helpful to pay particular attention to the use (or lack of) of oak barrels and the time spent on lees, this will tell you how ‘rich’ a particular bottle of Chenin Blanc is likely to be.
This is my personal top 10 list:
Swerwer, Tiernes 2020, 95/100
Huis Van Chevalerie, Nuwedam 2018, 94/100
Gabrielskloof, Elodie 2020, 93/100
Badenhorst, The Golden Slope 2021, 92/100
David and Nadia, Platbos 2021 – 91/100
Steilpad, Chenin Blanc 2021 – 91/100
Harry Hartmann, Chenin Blanc 2021, 91/100
Bosman, Optenhorst 2021, 91/100
Thistle and Weed, Duwweltje 2021, 90/100
Patina, Chenin Blanc 2019, 89/100
Image copyright: Marcello D’Onofrio
