Anna Kirsten who owns the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in South Africa with her Chenin Blanc Association Commemorative Certificate

Press release from Chenin Blanc Association

Date: 18 December 2009

Chenin Blanc Association celebrates venerable Cape Vineyards

The Cape is blessed with fantastic old blocks of Chenin Blanc – and this is one of those times that old age is better than youth! Vineyard age really adds to the complexity and character of the grapes and in turn of the wines.

Over the last ten months, the Chenin Blanc Association has been on a quest to find the oldest Chenin Blanc plantings in South Africa. Along the way, beautiful gems have been discovered. Ken Forrester, Chairman of the Chenin Blanc Association describes the aim: “We set out in January 2009 to look for the oldest Chenin Blanc plantings that we could find. We wanted to raise awareness of older Chenin Blanc plantings because these awesome vines produce some of the finest Chenins in the world. It is also important to preserve such old blocks, and to give them the respect they deserve – for they may yield less, but the quality is outstanding. Many of our members are now looking for these plantings to incorporate into their wines.”

The oldest vineyard that has been recorded belongs to Mrs Anna Kirsten of Westridge. Her Stellenbosch block dates back to the dramatic era of Winston Churchill and Jan Smuts – it was established in 1942. The largest block of vines belongs to well known producer, Kaapzicht, and the smallest to Mrs Kirsten. The average age of the five oldest blocks is 60 years, which is an incredible legacy. All the data for the project was sourced from SAWIS (South African Wine Industry Information & Systems), who monitor South African wine production, to ensure accuracy.

The Chenin Blanc Association plans to bottle wines made from these historic plantings to be sold at an auction in 2010 to raise funds for The Pebbles Project*. As Ken Forrester puts it; “These vines represent our past and our future. They are testament to the faith shown in them by these producers over the years, they cared for them when many others would have ripped them out, and the exciting new wines that they will produce are undoubtedly going to add massive momentum to the excellent reputation South Africa has for its Chenin Blanc”.

The Chenin Blanc Association is a grower-based organisation dedicated to the promotion of Chenin Blanc to consumers, both locally and abroad. The association represents 90% of the quality Chenin Blanc producers in South Africa and seeks to grow consumer awareness of Chenin Blanc, highlighting its versatility as a wine, its uniquely food-friendly attributes and its huge contribution to the South African wine industry.

See www.chenin.co.za for more information.

Photo attached: Mrs Anna Kirsten who owns the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in South Africa with her Chenin Blanc Association Commemorative Certificate

* The Pebbles Project was established in 2004 to offer support to children with special educational needs in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Message from De Trafford, South Africa:

'Sijnn First Release
We have taken the liberty to notify everyone on our De Trafford mailing list that we finally have the first wines from our Malagas vineyards, near the mouth of the Breede River (Sijnn), ready for purchase. The wines will now be available for tasting and sales from De Trafford Winery in Stellenbosch every Friday and Saturday morning 10.00am to 1.00pm or by appointment while stocks last. Attached are our price list and Platter Wine Guide Ratings, which are very encouraging for the first vintage.

Background to the Malagas Project
This is an exciting new vineyard venture on a stony plateau between Malagas and Cape Infanta approx. 230km east of Cape Town. Together with a few strategic partners, a small run-down ostrich and grain farm was purchased early in 2004. The new and potential vineyards are located 70m above the Breede River, 25 km from the sea by boat and 15 km as the crow flies. At this stage there are no other vineyards within a 40 km radius, the closest being those inland around Swellendam and along the coast at Elim.

The complex stony soils, together with a warm dry climate (350mm) moderated by the constant sea breezes offers excellent vineyard potential and the possibility of producing something unique. As this is quite a pioneering venture, extensive soil studies were undertaken and together with climatic data a variety of proven Mediterranean or southern European varieties have been planted, including Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Sauvignon and Trincadeira together with future plantings of Grenache. Chenin Blanc and Viognier have been planted for a white wine blend together with future plantings of Roussanne.'

Amongst the wines on sale is the:
2009 White
A barrel fermented blend of ⅔ Chenin Blanc & ⅓ Viognier. 120 rand (£9.86)

I haven't tasted this wine, although I have always been impressed with their wines, especially the Chenins and count them amongst South Africa's top Chenin producers. I hope to get the opportunity to taste this and the other wines from the Malagas Project in London sometime.

Further details from here.

Golden Chenin in the Layon Valley (Loire) 2005

Talking to the Chenin Kings inside the Chenin zone
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 by Graham Howe
"It was Chenin Blanc's bad luck to have long been treated as the vinous equivalent of Muzak: mindless, off-dry white stuff for so-called 'easy-drinking'. It has been planted at all points of the compass. Yet until recently, exciting dry Chenin Blanc was a rarity anywhere." Stuart Pigott, Planet Wine (Mitchell Beazley Publications, 2004)

Mooiplaas Bush Vine Chenin Blanc 2008 is the second unwooded wine in the history of Wine's oldest competition to win the Chenin Blanc Challenge. Chenin kings Francois Naudé, Ken Forrester and Teddy Hall talk to Graham Howe about South Africa's great white hope.

Wooded white wine has dominated Wine's Chenin Blanc Challenge ever since the inauguration of the competition in 1996. In search of a benchmark style for Chenin Blanc - a variety which often suffers from too much diversity - the judges have favoured wooded, bottled-aged vintages. The shift to three categories of Chenin Blanc - best wooded, best unwooded and best value - may have opened up the competition to more producers. Five unwooded wines made the four-star finalist list (15) in 2009.

"Most Chenin Blanc is unwooded" declares Francois Naude, who won the Chenin Blanc Challenge in 1998 with his unwooded L'Avenir Chenin Blanc 1997. A lonely voice in the wilderness over the intervening decade, he has cried out for recognition of a broader spectrum of Chenin. "To improve the quality and status of Chenin Blanc, we have to motivate the producers - the vast majority make unwooded Chenin."

"Why make Chenin taste like wooded Chardonnay? Chenin Blanc ages better than Chardonnay, needs less attention on the vine than Sauvignon Blanc, is more versatile with food and delivers better value." When producers are paid only R3,500 per ton of Chenin versus R6,500 per ton of Sauvignon, he complains there is not much incentive for Chenin growers to spend time improving the variety through canopy management. The only way out of this catch-22 trap is a make-over of Chenin's workhorse image.

Part of an article published on wine.co.za click here for the full text.