South Africa’s wine production history begins in 1652 when Jan Van Riebeeck was asked by his bosses at the Dutch East India Company to establish a stopping point near the Cape of Good Hope so merchant ships could resupply on their way between Asia and the Netherlands. Because wine was known to combat scurvy and the climate was favourable to grow wines, he brought along vine cuttings coming from somewhere in western France". The first grapes grown in South Africa were pressed into wine 7 years later.
Steen
Fast forward almost 4 centuries of a sad and complicated colonial history, and many more varieties imported, the grape that was known locally as Steen was a mainstay of the wine production, and by far the most widely planted. In 1963, C J Orffer from Stellenbosch University confirmed that it was the same as Loire Valley’s Chenin Blanc.
Today, Chenin Blanc is still the most widely planted grape in South Africa despite losing ground to other varieties, especially reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. It was mostly perceived as a ‘filler’ grape that can stretch a blend or be used to make base wine for distillation, but, although old wines have been used to make truly excellent wines.
Steen is barely seen on a wine label nowadays, except in the Steen op Hout style, a very heavily oaked version of Chenin Blanc (it means Steen on wood).
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch is a town about 45 km from Cape Town and the centre of the historic wine production. Stellenbosch University has long studied both viticulture and winemaking. Abraham Perold, CJ Orffer’s mentor, authored “A Treatise on Viticulture”, a reference at the time, in 1927.
The district has a mix of valleys and mountains, and each ward produces wines with a distinct character. Helderberg has probably the highest reputation of all of the South African wine-growing areas. The climate is fairly warm, although the cold currents coming from Antarctica have a very big moderating influence on the temperature.
Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc’s most distinctive characteristic is its bracing acidity. In the Loire valley in France, Savennières is probably the pinnacle of its expression, but since the climate there is cool, the acidity can take years to mellow and never really goes away.
But in a warm climate like Stellenbosch, the acidity of Chenin is balanced out by the ripeness of the fruit, and when grown in lower yield vineyards it can make complex age-worthy wines.
In South Africa, the Wines of Origin (WO) designation refers to grapes sourced from designated areas. But is not as strict as it would be in France or Germany as there are no limits on yields, fertilizer use or irrigation. That said, wines labelled dry cannot have more than 5g/L of residual sugar, and while acidification is permitted, chaptalization (adding sugar to the fermenting wine) is not.
Chenin blanc takes well to oak which can help tame the acidity and provide additional complexity, although nowadays producers tend to use it sparingly, a far cry from the aforementioned Steen op Hout. But it can give baking spice or vanilla flavours to the wine that will enhance the citrus, stone fruit and tropical notes of a low yield Chenin.
The prices vary widely depending on the winemaker, but there are enough old vines with low yields that they are not rare, and you can usually find a variety in most wine stores.
Most wine lovers would consider this wine to be a classic that you should try at least once. Acid freaks will no doubt love it, but if you find the wine too acidic, try it with a salad with some vinaigrette, or any food you would serve with a slice of lemon. It will mellow the feeling of acidity and let the fruit shine.
Since high-quality Chenin Blanc are usually very capable of cellar ageing (which is not common for white wines), feel free to keep a bottle around for when the occasion strikes.
Until next week, happy drinking!