On the Road with the Grape Guy
Report from - Wines of South Africa Workshop ... June 15, 2011
30 Dec 2011- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
This was an all-day affair hosted on the 2nd floor of Morton’s Steakhouse (on Avenue Road). Four seminars all dealing with South African wine and their many ilk.
Seminar One – Chenin Blanc (10:30am) … We were here to taste some 39 wines starting with the (once and future) king of South African whites, Chenin Blanc, described as the Cinderella grape. Years ago the South Africans called it “Steen”, which means brick, because the bunches come off the vine in a seemingly heavy brick form … but recently the proper name for the grape is being used to market the wines outside of South Africa. Originally this noble variety was planted as a Brandy grape, but many winemakers have taken it under their wing and decided to make more serious wines from it. South Africa has the largest production area of Chenin, double its nearest competition for the grape’s affection, the Loire Valley in France. The reason for its popularity is simple: 9 out of 10 years the majority of regions of South Africa can ripen all their grapes. It represents 50% of all white production, 20% of all wine production, and 55% of all Chenin vines in South Africa are 15+ years old. We tasted 11 Chenins, with vintage dates ranging from 2006-2010 here is my top three: (To read about my tops wines tasted during all four seminars, click here)
