If Chenin has fallen off your fine wine drinking radar, try this fabulous French example, made from grapes grown on soils of flint and limestone. Flavours of fresh green apples, honey and citrus all combine in every beautifully balanced sip of this outstanding Loire Valley Chenin Blanc from top producer, Bernard Fouquet. 

The new Dicey Wine brand is the brainchild of the well experienced Dicey brothers, Matt and James, whose parents were among the pioneers of viticulture and winemaking in Bannockburn, Central Otago, when they co-founded Mt Difficulty Wines.

100% Chenin Blanc Cremant de Loire from Marc Brédif. A selection of the finest wines of the year blended with 10% reserve wines, and two and a half years aging in the cool underground cellars. Dosage of between 9-12grams, this classic expression of Brut Vouvray offers aromas and flavours of green apple, citrus and mineral notes with a fine bead and crisp finish.

Wine Spectator 2015 - Finally, a solid vintage, easily the best since 2010. Chenin Blanc excelled with both dry and sweet versions.
Vintage 92 pts Outstanding – Wine Advocate Vintage Chart

Lovely dry, full bodied, Loire Valley sparkling Chenin Blanc from Domaine des Aubuisieres; producers of impressive bubbly and still Chenin Blancs such as this outstanding sparkling wine.

Les Fondraux is semi-sweet: it always has some residual sugar, wich gives concentration and fullness to the palate. White flowers dominate the nose and help bring into focus all of the wine's freshness, fullness, minerality and vivacity. Whilst young, the wine matches perfectly with river fish, charcuterie, goat's cheese, and sweet-and-sour dishes. With age, the flavours can manage more spicy foods and white meat. - Champalou note.

The Wrekin Vineyard lies within its own small valley located on the north facing slopes of the Fairhall Valley. It is part of a sub-region of Marlborough known as the Southern Valleys.

This wine is made by Jeremy Hyland (vigneron) and winemaker Hätsch Kalberer offering and offers intense orange blossom and stone fruit on the nose. All the classic aromatics of a Chenin Blanc. The palate is dry and broad with focused crisp acidity balanced with rich lime and pear.

The Kaapzicht (Cape View) Wine Estate covers 174 hectares in the Bottelary Ward in the world-famous Stellenbosch district of South Africa. The vineyards stretch over predominantly north-facing slopes on fertile granite soils with a climate that favours the cultivation of quality wine grapes.

This wine is made using fruit from old bush vines planted in weathered granite topsoil and crumbly clay sub-soil, with a yield of up to 4 tons per hectare. Some of the fruit coming from a vineyard planted in 1947 (second oldest Chenin in the country).

Made reductively. Grapes were harvested during early morning hours in cool temperatures and were given ± 8-10 hours skin contact. Enzymes were used to help extract flavours while on the skins. Wine lay on the lees for 3 months before being racked, cleaned & bottled.

Tasting Notes
Ripe quince, pineapple and stone fruit with some interesting savoury undertones. Lightly textured palate, with a hint of sweetness and balancing crunchy acid, results in a brisk finish.

Textural and mouth filling wine made from hand picked Chenin Blanc grapes grown on the Two Terraces Vineyard in Mangatahi, Hawke's Bay; a site with warm days and cool nights which preserves Chenin's naturally refreshing acidity. Flavours in this wine span the range of tropical fruit aromas, crisp Granny Smith apple acidity and a tangy finish, making this wine a great match with food such as white fish, oysters, mussels and goat’s cheese.

The wine was whole bunch pressed and fermented in old barrels with a vineyard starter yeast created specifically for this wine from the same harvest. Most of the wine was aged in a small tinaja (clay amphora) and the balance in old barrels. There is no residual sugar in the wine and it was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Fermented on skins for 190 days this wine is grown traditionally and fermented without intervention. Apure expression of the Opou Vineyard, home to Chardonnay for 50 years.

? BioGro Certified Organic 

? Demeter Certified Biodynamic 

? Grown and bottled on the Property

? Dry farmed 

? Unfined. Contains no animal products.

A beautifully balanced dessert wine made only in exceptional vintages from estate grown Chenin Blanc.

Winestate 5 Stars 98/100
"Likely to be long-lived, this lovely dessert wine was made from estate-grown chenin blanc. Light lemon/green, it is fresh, strong, sweet and crisp, with a rich surge of lemony, slightly appley flavours, showing excellent delicacy, vigour, intensity and poise"

“Meltwater is a new collection of small batch organic wines with texture and interest … No formula here, just deliciously crisp and pure wines that express everything we love about Marlborough. The wines are named for the glacial meltwaters of the last ice age, which flowed from the high country of Marlborough, depositing sedimentary rock material as they criss-crossed the valleys below.” —Mike & Anna Paterson, Corofin



Tasting Note: Picked ripe but still with a citrus core and good acidity. As with the 2021, plenty of pithy, waxy dry extract which is texturally very appealing. Plenty of interest and seductive on release.

Winemaking Notes: Hand harvested April 10th 2022. Natural ferment in older puncheons. Slow and steady primary fermentation over 7 months, stopping at 4gl RS; full malolactic fermentation on original lees. Racked, filtered and bottled March 2023. Biogro certified 6110. Only 65 cases made.