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 l’Ancestrale is a natural sparkling wine made in the pétillant style. The fermentation starts in tank and the wine is then bottled while still fermenting (at around 18-20 grams sugar) and then finishes in the bottle without the addition of any sugar and using only the natural yeasts. Generous citrus notes, subtle hints of toasted almonds. Mineral and complex with a persistent foam.

Lovely and 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 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.

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.

A ripe, succulent combination of 65% Chenin from a 40 year old Franschhoek vineyard and 35% Grenache Blanc from Paarl, both naturally fermented and aged 6 months in 2nd and 3rd fill 600 litre barrels.

PRODUCTION Wildeberg’s rationale is to source the finest vineyards available to us across Franschhoek and the Coastal Region, from which cuvées the eyes are plucked to make Wildeberg and the Terroir Series releases. In doing so there remains a small yet definitive expression of all the vineyards we worked with, and its these cuvees that are again selected to go into Coterie by Wildeberg. Chenin and Grenache Blanc complement each other well. Both varietals love the Coastal Region’s arid soils and Mediterranean climate due to their inherent tolerance to drought. Both components were naturally fermented in 600 litre French oak barrels. The Chenin is from an old, low-yielding Franschhoek vineyard planted in 1962 (65%). This brings freshness and tightness to the blend, the old vines also bring Wildeberg’s hallmark texture. The Grenache Blanc is from vibrant, younger plantings Paarl (35%), adding body and structure with this cultivars naturally exotic notes of jasmine and white spice. 65% 2nd fill and 35% 3rd fill barrels.

TASTING NOTE A ripe, open nose with white peach, apricots and hints of jasmine flowers. The palate shows texture and generosity from the old bush vine Chenin, veiled with white spice and exotic notes from the younger, alluring Grenache Blanc, the whole ultimately finishing rich, yet fresh and textural.

FOOD MATCH This is a rich, textural wine whose body and exotic jasmine notes would ably marry with gentle Malay and Thai green fish curries, dishes with lemongrass and coriander, or just simply braai-ed linefish

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. A pure expression of The Opou Vineyard, home to Chardonnay for 50 years now telling us its stories with a new voice. Unfined and unfiltered, this uncompromised wine offers a perfect journey from our place to your glass. With love and gratitude.

Alc 13.5%

Vegan and Vegetarian Friendly

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"

Estate grown, handpicked and aged in French oak for 11 months. A mouth-filling citrus flavoured wine with a lovely minerality for those that enjoy something just a little bit special

Only 19 hectares of Chenin Blanc is currently planted in New Zealand and Martinborough has produced a small amount of great Chenin Blanc for many years. We are excited to produce our first from the 2024 vintage.

Fragrant aromas of fresh cut pink grapefruit, yellow apple, fennel seeds, white cardamom and a note of lemon sherbet on the nose. The palate greets with fresh notes of lemonade, rock melon, toasted almonds and with a hint of beeswax on the finish. A textured and salivating wine, with a fine balance of phenolic texture with a long lingering palate. This is a deliciously complex wine from a truly great vintage; it captures the purity and charm of a much-loved harvest.

Fragrant aromas of fresh cut pink grapefruit, yellow apple, fennel seeds, white cardamom and a note of lemon sherbet on the nose. The palate greets with fresh notes of lemonade, rock melon, toasted almonds and with a hint of beeswax on the finish. A textured and salivating wine, with a fine balance of phenolic texture with a long lingering palate. This is a deliciously complex wine from a truly great vintage; it captures the purity and charm of a much-loved harvest.