The Montlouis on the Rock event will bring together, on July 4 in Montlouis-sur-Loire, professionals from the wine sector as well as winegrowers from California, Oregon, Spain and South Africa. South for a seminar devoted to the great Chenin Blanc grape variety. Two themes will be explored, namely the recognition of the terroir and the understanding of the winegrower’s choice in the face of the climatic changes we are going through.
The duty is invited there for a summer appetizer that promises to be as rock in its soil version as it is rock and roll in the rhythm assumed by the singular grape variety in contact with the sandstones, granites, schists, sands and other flints that serve as its body. of resonance. We will come back to it.
South Africa, for its part, was invited to Quebec this week in the presence of Andrea Mullineux, a Californian oenologist as talented as she is in love with chenin blanc, a cultivar which was already finding its marks in the middle of the 17th century.e century, in the versatile terroirs of this country at the end of the world.
His meeting in Champagne with the South African Chris Mullineux orients the following things, the couple founding Mullineux Family Wines in 2007 in Swartland, more precisely in the Riebeek-Kasteel valley, where shale abounds. An Indian partner joined the adventure in 2013, with the addition of a few vineyards outside the Swartland region, near Franschhoek (Leeu Estates).
As a result, the Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines is now one of the most innovative and inspired estates of the day, undeniably a new generation of South African wines which is now making a name for itself beyond borders.
An emblematic grape variety
With its 92,005 hectares in production (compared to just over 115,000 hectares in Bordeaux and some 57,000 in the Loire Valley), the South African vineyard is planted in white in a proportion of 55.4%, with, for the “steen” – historical name of the local chenin blanc –, a little less than 19% of the cultivated area. “Not only does the country have a large area planted with steen, but it also has the oldest vines of the variety in the world. The Old Vine Project, launched more than a decade ago, attempts to map the best chenin terroirs, but also to ensure a high average age while perpetuating, by replanting, the existing plant material”, explains the lady who, with her husband, is harvesting her fifteenth harvest this year.
Like chardonnay, chenin blanc is a real chameleon that varies in intensity, texture and dynamics in the mouth depending on the old subsoils from which it “draws” its rock juice as well as the strong luminosity that pigments its particularly thick skin developed during the long maturities of the late autumn. The dynamic ambassador commented on a few Chenins Blancs submitted for tasting by the press. A few impressions…
Beaumont Wines 2021 ($20.25 – 13225840 – coming soon). Sébastien Beaumont offers us a lively and very salivating approach to a chenin, with a clear taste of white grapefruit. (5) ★★ 1/2
Mullineux Kloof Street 2021 ($22.30 – 12889409). The highly draining decomposed granite soils here give amplitude and richness to a dry, textured wine with a taste of candied white fruit (quince), smoke and honey. (5) ★★★
Reyneke Organic 2021 ($19.85 – 14221242). On the side of Stellenbosch, on granite soils, a finely tense, luminous Chenin, where life pulsates by illuminating the fruitiness of the interior. (5) ★★★
Secateurs 2021, Badenhorst ($19.25 – 12135092). Adi Badenhorst vinifies his chenins in large vats, adding substantial volumes of “vineyard starters” to enrich the must while multiplying the fruity depths. Surprising result, singular, innovative, which deserves the detour. (5) ★★★ ©
Testalonga Baby Bandito Stay Brave 2021 (nd). One of the great maceration wines (ten days on skins) that I have been able to taste for ages. Exceptional integrity and clarity on the palate, with flavors of ginger, mango and Meyer lemon. Hopefully it’s on the shelves! (5+) ★★★ 1/2 ©
The FMC 2021, Ken Forrester ($61.50 – 10703033). Is it necessary to introduce the great Ken? The decomposed granites on a clay base combined with a hint of botrytis ensure here a full, textured mouth, amplifying the fruit and the terroir. Long finish with a taste of bitter marmalade and flint… Phew! (5+) ★★★★ ©
Grab while there’s some left!