I have a soft spot for Rustenberg as the wines are generally good quality I could prices and this pretty much follows through in this Chenin Blanc. Deep lemon in color and although it’s not meant to have been aged in any Oak you do get much more richness that you might expect, I think this is partly because it’s been left on its lees for maturing. It’s dry and crisp and lots of flavor of pear and citrus possibly a little strong for my liking that said it would go very well with white meat fish and Chinese food so from that aspect a thumbs up. At about £6 a bottle it is good value.
Rustenberg Estate, Chenin Blanc, 2018, Stellenbosch, South Africa
South Africa produces a lot of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay and this Daniel’s Drift from Marks & Spencer is pretty typical. At £7 a bottle (£5 on offer) or part of the M&S meal deal this is an easy drinking white wine.
Its light in colour, fresh and crisp on the nose with smells of ripe melon, apple and hints of citrus. There’s more in the flavour with grass, gooseberry and more lemon coming through. It’s a dry wine table wine with goes well with a supermarket meal or on a summer afternoon sitting in the garden.
Decanter gave it a bronze medal at the 2019 awards with 87 points which on reflection and most of the bottle is spot on and great if you can get it at £5 a bottle.
Marks & Spencer, Daniel’s Drift, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, 2018, South Africa
Made from the usual grape of Vouvray and the Loire, Chenin Blanc, it has ripe citrus aromas, lemon, pineapple with a note of flora in there. Its an off dry, demi sec, and its soft, rounded flavours make this very enjoyable. Personally I would have this with food, chicken or fish. At about £10 a bottle its a reasonable price.
Made from vines that are over 50 year’s old and matured in oak barrels this has aromas of oak and concentrated citrus. There are flavours of citrus and oak with a creamy, thicker texture. This is a very accomplished wine but best with food. At £15 a bottle it’s not cheap but worth trying.
Stellenrust old vine Chenin Blanc from South Africa
This is a sparkling Chenin Blanc from Vouvray. It’s a Demi Sec sparkling with flavours of yellow apple, blossom, pear and a little honey and citrus. The aromas are lacking but it’s not a big issue, the flavours are integrated and complement the strawberries and cream and scones we had.
We recently went on a Wine GB trip to the Loire Valley and visited Bouvet Ladubay in Saumur. It’s big operation making 6 million bottles of wine per year.
This is their standard sparkling wine, very dry with flavours of citrus and green apple. The acidity is high and would naturally pair with sea food or a second glass. This is the standard I measure other sparkling wine against. It’s not the very best but very good. Majestic Wines sell this for about £10 a bottle, good value.
Bouvet Ladubay Brut from Saumur in the Loire Valley, France
Day 4, after all the tasting so far, today would at prove the end turn out to be the most weird.
Our first stop was in Vouvray at Bernard Fouquet. They only do Chenin Blanc wines but have various styles. The first wine was the Cuvee Silex, a dry but tasting off dry, rounded, soft feeling wine with aromas of stone fruit, melon with cane through on the taste. Beautifully east to drink.
Bernard Fouquet caves
The second wine was the the Le Petit Clos 2017, dryer and with green notes of grass and apple but with subtle aromas of lemon, peach and melon. We tried the 2016 version which has an oakey note on the nose and the same green flavours.
Le Marigny (dry) was next. Dryer still and Oak aromas and flavours of lemon and green apple.
Le Marigny (sweet) has 30g of residual sugar. Honey, citrus aromas and flavours.
Le Plan De Jean 2018 is a late harvest wine and has 70g of residual sugar. Able to be stored for 20 years or more. Soft, smooth with honey and peach aromas and flavours and slight citrus notes in the background. The 2015 version was aged in barrels and has aromas of oak and a faint hint of kerosene but not in the taste.
Cuvee Alexandre is a desert wine with aging ability of 50 year’s, why? Amazing aromas of honey, dried apricots. Very sweet with honey, orange marmalade and raisin flavours, wonderful, superb it makes life worth living.
The last tasting was the sparkling wine Brut, to help clean the palette. Not sure if it would be better to start with this but there are aromas and flavours of citrus, clean but possibly influencer by the sweet wine still.
The last sparkling was the Cuvee Zero. Aromas of warm bread and citrus flavours, very nice, I liked the clearness on the palette.
Bernard Fouquet, Vouvray, Loire Valley
Francois et Julien Pinon in Vouvray was the next stop. We tasted in a troglodyte cave house, cool and inviting.
Francois Pinons storage
Francois Pinons tasting room
The Brut had aromas of lemon with fresh mineral notes. The flavours were subtle, more citrus and green, very dry with high acidity.
The Zero Brut had more yeasty notes with a little hint of petroleum. There are flavours of citrus and green apple.
The Sec 2018 still white is made of Chenin Blanc. It has aromas of lemon and hints of grapefruit. There are flavours of citrus but also a creamy texture.
The next white was from grapes grown on limestone rather than clay. This has more floral notes and a slightly rounded although with good acidity. Both are drink all day wines and good value at under Eur14 a bottle.
The next stop was the weirdest, strangest and some would say the most bonkers.
Making wine in clay and concrete pots 800m inside a cave.
David Sebastien, Loire Valley wine making in a cave
All the wines that he made were competent, the reds had an earthy smell but were full-bodied Cab Franc and had very subtle differences but with good red fruit and black fruit flavours coming through.
The idea is that the wine will take on the flavours of the pot and the pot will breakdown the tanning and structures of wine to give it a finer flavour. He toasts the inside of the pots to give different flavours just as you would a barrel. He even hangs some from the caves ceiling.
The hanging wine vat
Humidity is at 85% and the temperature is approximately 12 degrees in the caves, theres masses of mould growing on the walls on tanks barrels, spooky place.
Mould growing on the barrels
The guy can make wine but I’m not entirely convinced that this is the way forward.
Even the bulk producers are making premium ranges that are far removed from their normal offerings these days. This is not one of them. “Special Cuvee Chenin Blanc made with bush wines” means hot day with a glass or 2 of white wine. There are subtle aromas and flavours of citrus and peach but not much compared to other Chenin Blanc’s. That said at under £6 a bottle what do you expect!
