Wine
David Williams's wines of the week

The chenin agreement: one grape, many wines

Chenin blanc started out in the Loire before making a name for itself in the Cape, now the two are giving each other a boost. Here’s one from South Africa and two from France for you to try

Grape expectations: a vineyard of chenin blanc.
Grape expectations: a vineyard of chenin blanc. Photograph: Alamy

Morgenhof Estate Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2014 (£11.99, Waitrose) For all the many great wines it now makes from, among others, syrah, grenache, cinsault, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, South Africa’s biggest trump card is still I still think chenin blanc. It’s the main ingredient in most of the country’s finest white wines, those funky, quirky, utterly distinctive blends made by the likes of Donovan Rall (Rall White 2014, £25, Roberson Wine), Mullineux Estate (Mullineux White 2013, £17, Oddbins) and Adi Badenhorst (AA Badenhorst Family White Blend 2013, £21.95, Stone Vine). But it also works solo in some of the best oak-influenced richer whites in the supermarkets, with, in the case of Morgenhof’s nicely poised example, a flash of trademark Cox’s apple-tartness and steely acidity.

Domaine de la Grange Patrimoine White, Touraine, France 2014 (£13.50, Joie de Vin) Rather as New Zealand has done with sauvignon blanc, the success of Cape chenin has focused attention on the grape’s homeland in the Loire Valley, the variety is used to make pretty much every conceivable style of white wine, from the gently off-dry and viscous tarte-tatin-flavoured dessert wines, to snappy green-apple dry fizz. No matter the style, the common theme in Loire chenin is a luminous robustness. It has a wonderfully incisive backbone of acidity that gives a rich, nutty, subtly honeyed, barrel-fermented white – such as this Patrimoine blend of chenin with a little chardonnay – its superb food-matching (pork, chicken, risotto, creamy fish) capabilities.

Domaine des Roches-Neuves Saumur Blanc l’Insolite, Loire, France 2014 (from £22.50, Smiling Grape; Joseph Barnes Wines) That luminous quality is also present in the fabulous wines made on the biodynamic estate run by Thierry Germain in Saumur – his L’Insolite cuvée, the product of fruit grown on very old chenin vines, is nicely described by Smiling Grape as having a ‘steelier swish than Zorro’s blade’ running through its ripple of ripe apple, lemon and honey. It will keep for years, adding more layers of honeyed, nutty interest as it ages. Another chenin name worth looking out for is Vincent Carême, who makes the graceful Vouvray Spring Sec 2014 (£12.50) and the nervy Montlouis Jumeau 2013 (£15.20, both Berry Bros & Rudd).

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