Chenin Blanc & Chenin Blends

The 2021 Secateurs Chenin is the best example we've tried. Loads of fresh, crunchy apple fruit and a lovely lick of spice, with a hint of oatmeal make this an awful lot of wine for the price. And if you forget a few bottles in the back of the cellar, you might just be surprised.

From the vineyard next door to the cellar - Kelder in Afrikaans - this is a quintessential Paardeberg Chenin Blanc. Planted in 1974, the vines are now considerable in size, and this has orchard fruit and lots of spice.

The Grensloos is a new wine this year and is a blend of all of Adi Badenhorst's single vineyard sites. It offers incredible value for money, knowing the quality of fruit here, it shows superb intensity on the palate with flavours of white flowers, white peach and white grapefruit. There are characteristic flavours of beeswax, a little miso as well as wild honey and citrus pith on the finish. A brilliant Chenin, but it was always going to be thus!

A Chenin that would make many German GG producers blush. Electric on the palate, this is pure, crystalline and saline. Primarily a mineral wine, there are notes of white peach, pear and stone fruit with white flowers and verbena. This is a wonderful effort from Sebastien Beaumont in the Bot River.

Hard to resist when a wine tastes this good at this price, the Kottabos Chenin offers white flowers, notes of apricot skin, white grapefruit with a crystalline focus. Subtle notes of green mango and a hint of beeswax here with a delicious texture and salinity on the finish.

A blend of parcels of younger vines, from the Swartland's Malmesbury Hills and the Paardeberg, as well as sites throughout Stellenbosch. 2022's selection also meant that some serious old vine fruit made it into the blend, making it even better than usual. Complex yet approachable, this is the best example yet.

Chris Alheit’s ‘younger vine’ Chenin but also incorporating some old vine fruit from the Paardeberg and Tygerberg this is a stunner in the 2023 vintage. A vibrant line of acidity running through, with golden stone fruit, hints of beeswax and acacia. A hint of white sesame with a little white grapefruit and ocean spray on the finish.

Old vine project certified, this Chenin is sourced from 8 vineyards planted between 1968 to 1986. It is crystalline and focused with a pulse of energy running through the wine. White flowers, white grapefruit, and subtle notes of verbena, the finish is refreshing and very saline.

This is a brilliant Chenin-based blend but including varieties such as Verdelho, Clairette Blanche, and Colombard it is a racy, and focused wine with notes of white flowers, lemongrass and white tea. The palate is saline and zippy with notes of white grapefruit, lemon essence, and hints of stone fruits.

At the moment the most reserved of the range, it also holds the most promise. Planted in 1981 on the Paardebosch farm the soils are primarily decomposed granite. Leading with notes of pear, white peach, and white flowers, there is also hints of ginger, lemongrass and chalk dust. Very crystalline and tense right now, this will age gracefully.

An intense, bold style of Chenin this offers real intensity of apricot and stone fruits on the palate, notes of salted almonds, acacia and peach skin. The soils is very shallow shale soils in the Paardeberg, which gives the wine a real mineral focus.

From a vineyard planted in 1968 this is more flinty, spicy and driven in style. Offering notes of white grapefruit, verbena, with real tension at its core this is a beautifully chiselled Chenin.

From a vineyard planted in 1984, only 999 bottles were made this year. It is wonderfully pure, opening out on the mid-palate with notes of orange blossom, bitter melon, and apricot. Very fluid and saline on the finish.

From four different farms in the Swartland, including Adi Badenhorst's Jakkalsfontein, Chris Alheit's Nuwedam, and the Langkloof farm that's source of some brilliant old vine Chenin, this is focussed and fine, with lots of white flowers, fennel seed and stone fruit. Fresh and focused there is real intensity through the palate and saline on the finish.

From the Laing's farm on the Skurfberg, this is a remarkable old vine Chenin Blanc vineyard. There's notes of orange blossom and rind, and an almost negroni-like perfume. So complex, piercing, and delicious, it's no wonder that the wines from the Skurfberg are so sought-after.

A blend of 52% Chenin Blanc from a 61 year old vineyard in Piekenierskloof planted on its own rootstocks, alongside 27% Verdelho and 13% Colombard. This is very saline and fresh, and there’s lots of pithy fruit, too. Delicious.

From a single vineyard planted in 1977 on the decomposed sandstone of the Piekenierskloof, this is a brilliant Chenin Blanc. There's a luminosity here, and also a real freshness. But don't let the subtlety fool you: this is a serious wine, with a lot of potential in it.

61% of this comes from the Paaderberg, with the rest from the Polkadraai. And that gives this wine a brilliant balance of Stellenbosch yellow fruit, and Swartland savouriness. It’s full of energy: a benchmark Chenin Blanc from the Cape.

A blend of 70% fruit from Lammershoek on the Paardeberg, planted in 1966, with a 1980-planted vineyard also on the Paadeberg. This is savoury and saline, and there’s lots of fynbos and confit lemon character. Long, savoury, and so vibrant.

This parcel, situated on the rolling hills outside of Malmesbury with Koffieklip soils enjoys cool nights and mild days during the growing season. Notable yellow orchard summer fruits, fresh orange peel and a slight flintiness welcome one on the nose, with a multi-layered palate and slightly saline finish that round off this beautifully textural wine.

Coming from the Mullineux’s own vineyard on the Paardeberg, the vines yield small, intense berries which bring real intensity to the wine. Highlighted by fresh quince, white peach and hints of lime, the nose of this Chenin Blanc is difficult to resist, and it follows through with a firm chalky texture and a lively, focused finish.

From the Eikerlan vineyard on the Paardeberg, one of the highest altitude spots here, this is a Chenin with spiced notes of ginger, fennel seed, and fresh white peach and white grapefruit. A gentle bitter lemon note adds intrigue with a breath of sea air on the finish.

A Chenin based blend from the Swartland with the addition of Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Semillon Gris and Verdelho. It shows upfront aromas of fresh stone fruit and lightly poached pears which follow through to a complex palate which has layers of yellow grapefruit and nectarines, a vibrant acidity with hints of ginger and lemongrass on the finish.

The 2023 Steen is a brilliant old vine Chenin produced from a 0.6ha block planted in 1984, at 800m elevation. Tightly coiled, this races out of the glass with energy and vibrancy. This will age beautifully – not one to miss this year.