Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2010

We’re suckers for good, wooded Chenin Blanc.  I love the round richness that the varietal provides when it has been oaked and given a bit of time in the bottle.  For years producers like Jean Daneel, De Trafford and Ken Forrester have been at the forefront of this style of Chenin Blanc, and we’re always on the look out for more.  Fortunately more and more producers are seeing the value of producing premium Chenin and the options are increasing all the time.

Our latest discovery is the Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2010.  Spier has recently rebranded their top end offerings to the 21 Gables label, a reference to the 21 gables on the farm – the most of any farm in South Africa.  The packaging is classic and eye catching, and I for one think they got it spot on.  I tasted the 21 Gables Chenin the first time at Caroline’s White Wine Review this past week, and it was a stand out on an evening of outstanding white wines.  Spier kindly sent us a sample of the wine and we promptly polished it off.  The wine is beautifully rich, with loads op tropical fruit, honey, yellow apple and apricots.  Wine of origin is Coastal, and the vines used are referred to as being older, adding complexity to the product. The residual sugar on the wine is slightly higher at 5 grams per liter, making it just on the right side of off-dry – a clever ploy as I believe it will appeal to a broader segment of the market.  I paired it with a creamy carbonara, but ideally have it with something a little spicy like eastern cuisine.

Available at fine wine stores and on Spier’s website. It retails for roughly R112 a bottle. A Pinotage has also been released under the 21 Gables label.  The vintage is 2009 and it retails for approximately R150.

www.spier.co.za