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Friday, September 07, 2018

2018 Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge

The annual Chenin Blanc Association Top 10 Challenge Awards were presented in the spectacular wine cellar at Ellerman House. The challenge drew 113 wooded and 46 unwooded entries, all tasted blind by the five member panel, with 27 wines shortlisted for the final top ten line-up

To quote Ken Forrester, chairman of the Chenin Blanc Association: "Chenin Blanc has come of age. The versatility of Chenin, its diversity of wine styles and its great food-friendliness, all point towards its rising acceptance among local consumers. This is in line with the growing international interest in the grape, increasingly seen abroad as South Africa’s calling card”. South Africa has more Chenin Blanc under vine than any other country in the world

What else could do the welcome so well but the
Sparkle Horse Brut Chenin Blanc MCC from Ken Forrester

Michelle Stewart and Associate judge Spencer Fondaumiere,
Group Operations Manager and Sommelier; Burrata, Bocca and Open Door Restaurants

Media colleagues Jon Meinking and Clifford Roberts

Jeff Grier of Villiera, Dirk van Zyl and Danie de Waal of De Morgenzon

We were offered some canapés. These were sweet raspberry macarons, rather surprisingly filled with smoked salmon. An odd sensation

A plate of the canapés on offer. Nothing was what it seemed on the surface
The crisp, crumbed belly of pork on the left was topped with what tasted like mackerel mousse
The chef mixed many sweet and fishy flavours with the savoury expectation
Not universally popular, probably very trendy. Media are rarely that adventurous

Ellerman House Sommelier Melusi Magodhi

Jeff Grier, Vice Chairman of the Chenin Blanc Association

Renee and Jean Daneel from JD Wines in Napier

We stood to listen to the awards of the Top 10

The Chenin Blanc Association told us in a video that UK wine consultant Simon Field MW, a specialist on wines from the Loire in France, where Chenin originates and the only foreign judge on the panel, was impressed with the line-up of what he called very polished, palatable and professional wines and their multiplicity of expression. “A definitively South African Chenin style was apparent to me - riper, more fruit-forward and floral, with qualities of nectarine and other yellow fruit, some beeswax and honey. The whole experience gave me a fascinating new perspective on Chenin”

Craig Polkinghorne, Head: Business and Commercial Banking at Standard Bank Group,
who sponsor the awards, reiterated their commitment to Chenin and the wine industry

The aroma wheel of Chenin Blanc, in all its diverse iterations

Fruit for the winning wines was sourced from as far afield as the Cederberg, Stellenbosch including Bottelary and Faure, Darling, Elgin, Durbanville, the Swartland - specifically Voor-Paardeberg, Perdeberg, Malmesbury - Tygerberg, Slanghoek, Wellington and Bot River

Cathy van Zyl MW, the chairman of the judges, said that the winning wines were largely, but not exclusively, sourced from older vineyards. “While one of the winners comes from 12-year old vines, the others come from vines that are older than 27 years. Indeed, the oldest vineyard in the line-up is 65-years’ old”. The judges were Cathy van Zyl MW (chair), Richard Kershaw MW, James Pietersen (Wine Cellar), Tinashe Nyamudoka (Test Kitchen), Simon Field MW (UK) and Associate judge Spencer Fondaumiere as an observer

The 2018 top 10 winners were

Cederberg Private Cellar Five Generations Chenin Blanc 2016

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc 2017

Jean Daneel Wines Signature Chenin Blanc 2016 (debut)

Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Chenin Blanc 2016

Mulderbosch Vineyards Chenin Blanc Steen op Hout 2017 (debut)

Slanghoek Wynkelder Legends Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2016 (debut)

Spier Wines 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2017

Stellenrust ‘53’ Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2017

Wellington Wines La Cave Chenin Blanc 2016 (debut)

Wildekrans Barrel Select Chenin Blanc Reserve 2017 (debut)

Here the winners are with their awards

Cathy van Zyl told us, “While one of the winners comes from 12-year old vines, the others come from vines that are older than 27 years. Indeed, the oldest vineyard in the line-up is 65-years’ old.” The wines are all wooded and they are magnificent in their class and deservedly top Chenin Blancs. The prices range from R70 to R375, an average of R200 a bottle. But we did miss the fresh unwooded wines, which are very popular and also sell so well

Winemaker Carl van der Merwe's signature is on this beautiful rounded Chenin, with minerality and elegance, apple blossom on the complex nose. Oak wood, butter, then crisp limes, lemon, and nectarine, it has depth and length and dry with minerality and some chalk, ending in fine wood. R375

Wildekrans 2017 Barrel Selection. Honey and orange marmalade, floral with orange blossom on the nose. Honey notes, round, crisp lemon freshness, nectarines & long lush flavours. R228

La Cave 2016 from Wellington Winery has a round grassy nose, with flinty smoke. On the palate, richness, fullness, baked apple, marmalade bitterness that is wood, with minerality and another hint of wood smoke on the end. R100

Stellenrust 2017 Barrel Fermented. Grassy and floral, with melon, apple, pineapple and litchi with gentle wood, the latter supporting but present. R200

Spier 21 Gables 2017 in a top line up yet again. Golden Chenin nose, grassy with soft smoke. Good fruit acidity, then lots of wood flavours from light to dark, fruit follows with intense quince and juicy white pears

Slanghoek Wynkelder Legends Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2016 (debut) has tropical notes on the nose and lime and apricots with butterscotch wood on the full palate.

Mulderbosch Steen op Hout Chenin Blanc 2017 (debut) is a very popular wine. Brandy wood, dry grass, apricots and cooked apple with minerality on the nose, wood and apples, lemon & limes, wood and minerality echo on the palate. It has a long finish and is very satisfying

Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Chenin Blanc 2016. Shy with smoky grass and passion fruit on the nose; 9 months in 500 litre barrels. Exciting entry, rich zingy fruit, nicely rounded, apples, pears, peaches; a good acid and fruit balance. Dark toasted wood right at the end

Jean Daneel Wines Signature Chenin Blanc 2016 (debut), Made by Jean Daneel's son, Jean-Pierre. Father has guided him well; this is a lovely wine in the family tradition. Elegant minerality and hints of sea breezes on the nose. Rich dark caramel fruit, stewed apple, more caramel wood. The fruit is vying with the wood to come to the fore and the wine ends with limes and lemons and flinty smoke

Ellerman House Sommelier Melusi Magodhi and Pieter du Toit of Cederberg Private Cellar. Cederberg Private Cellar Five Generations Chenin Blanc 2016 has a lovely apple blossom nose, with apples and pears dominating the full palate and just gentle wooding supporting this good wine

Spier has featured amongst the Top Ten every year since the inception of the challenge in 2014 and DeMorgenzon, every year since 2015. Stellenrust has been in the line-up every year since 2014, with the exception of 2016. This year marks the third time Leopard’s Leap has appeared

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2018 Perold/Absa Cape Blend awards lunch at Lanzerac

The Sum of the Parts

This year’s Absa Cape Blend Competition Awards, run by the Pinotage Association, were presented at a lunch at Lanzerac in Stellenbosch. We were invited to taste the top 10 finalists first and then, at lunch, the trophies for the top 5 winners were presented and certificates were presented to the remaining five finalists. A Cape Blend has to contain a minimum of 30% and no more than 70% Pinotage, the other grapes can be any the farms select, which makes this competition very interesting

The event was held in Lanzerac's very smart Cellar Hall. The judges this year were Jacques Roux (marketing director of DGB), Fred Viljoen and Johan Malan (proprietors and cellar masters at Viljoensdrift and Simonsig respectively), Susan Erasmus (Laffort), Brad Gold (CWM) and legendary winemaker Guy Webber. We found the quality of the 10 wines to be excellent. Most of the blends are led by Pinotage, but not all. They have elegance, complexity and are very easy to drink; they have maturity and great textures. They have reached a peak, but you can see there is much more to come. It was wonderful to see Lanzerac's buildings restored after the devastating fire they suffered last year

Wildekrans owner Amanda Harlow and winemaker Braam Gericke. The Wildekrans Cape Blend Barrel Select was one of the top five winners

Dewald Huisamen, Pulpit Rock is a top 5 winner with his Pulpit Rock Louisa Reserve 2014

KWV winemaker Sacha Muller; KWV won with their KWV Abraham Perold Tributum 2014

Cape Wine Master and Distell Director Francis (Duimpie) Bayly in conversation

Anri Truter (Beyerskloof), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop) and Johan Schwartz (Pinotage Assn)

Alida & Vian Bester of Leipzig Winery were in the top 5 winners with their Leipzig Master Blend 2017

Beyers Truter with his Faith, a Finalist

The proceeds of this wine go towards fighting Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Clifford Roberts with Dave Hughes - nice to see Dave looking so well and happy

Time for lunch and the awards

Beyers Truter, Chairman of the Pinotage Association, spoke first. "Our industry is lekker", he said "they hou van gesels" (they enjoy conversation). This category needed some time to get it right; they need to dream in Technicolor. Wines that come of age will hold their own against the best wines from the rest of the world

Adrie Esterhuyse from ABSA commented that wine quality in SA has improved, and that ABSA is proud to support the SA wine industry. The Pinotage Association needed to grow the customer base and after several years of discussion, the concept of the Cape Blend was agreed upon. The rest is history, it has been a success

The menu

The ten finalists and the three Pinotage Rosé finalists which were entered into this

new competition category as these wines are important in this growth area of wine

We tucked into our starter of slow braised oxtail with a superb shimeji broth with beautiful umami wild mushroom flavours, an olive and potato espuma, topped with baked celeriac twirls, tiny Enoki mushrooms and a beetroot soil. The course was served with bread and these two butters. Well matched was the Rooiberg Rosé which has a slight sweetness

The food went perfectly with the Faith blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

People were raving about the lamb. It was cooked Sous Vide and was meltingly tender, without being dry, and had superb flavour. Beyers called for us to stand and clap in appreciation to the chef! Topped with baby artichokes, sweet potatoes, a courgette purée and rich dark pan juices. A triumph

The dish of vegetables to go with the lamb, beautifully cooked multicoloured beetroot,

tender stemmed broccoli, squash, courgettes and baby fennel

Time for the awards

A special Honorarium for Duimpie Bayly "in recognition of his Exceptional contribution to the development of Pinotage, South Africa's unique cultivar"