Great South African Chenin Blancs

Filed in archive South African Wines on August 6, 2007

Are you looking for a delicious, crisp wine to refresh you on a hot summer day? Consider one of South Africa's delicous Chenin Blancs (also called Steen). It's difficult to compare it to other whites. Many of the Chenin Blancs that I've tasted have a similar flavor profile to a Sauvignon Blanc, but that's not the case all the time. And it might be its indescribability that can make it a tough sell in American markets where consumer often want to know what they're buying.

From The San Fransisco Chronicle:

Contemporary producers talk of a Chenin Blanc renaissance led by specialists in the grape. But we saw no consistency of approach. Some of our favorites reminded us of Sauvignon Blanc, taking advantage of Chenin Blanc's inherently vibrant acidity to create crisp wines, albeit with different fruit flavors than we expected. Other wineries treated it like Chardonnay, using new oak barrels and allowing malolactic fermentation to create buttery, vanilla-flavored concoctions we thought wasteful of the grape.

It may be unfair of us to expect consistency in Chenin Blancs from South Africa when we don't ask it of the same grape from the Loire. But Loire fans will seek out the styles they like, whereas South African producers still need to establish a market here: South Africa is only the ninth largest wine exporter to the United States, according to the Nielsen Co., with less than half the sales of Argentina. It would be easier for U.S. drinkers to pick up a bottle of Steen if they knew what to expect from it.

There are a number of reccomendations in this article as well, so be sure to check it out!