Catherine Marshall, Fermented in Clay Chenin Blanc, Elgin

First time with a Chenin Blanc, thought it felt a bit Chardonnay like… Clear golden yellow in colour. On the nose, citrus notes, tropical fruits, pineapple, peaches, sweet floral notes. On the palate, lots of tropical and stone fruits, citrus, pineapple, some peaches, honey lemon, creamy and buttery finish. Slightly sweet, med-high acidity.

Nicely reductive gun flint / mineral nose. Notes of orchard fruits. And white flowers. On the Palate: Mineral. Orchard fruits, especially white peaches and pears. Citrus fruit and peel in the background. Lovely texture and length. Mineral. Persistence is great. Good acidity and balance. This is really rather lovely. It's drinking now very well, but I think even a bit more bottle age of say up to five years will be super interesting to see what happens. I have a …

Possibly the first amphora wine that I liked - fresh, clean and elegant. The clay use gave it a lovely waxy texture and a good weight, very good balance to the wine with a honeysuckle note at the end. The kind of wine that you can finish in no time. SA is possibly my favourite value new-world region.

SA New Arrivals Zoom Tasting. Drank in Gabriel Standart. Appearance is clear, pale intensity, straw yellow maybe ever so slightly orangey colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of oily lanolin wool, stony minerality, peaches, deep citrus lemon pulp. Developing. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13%), medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sweet creamy almost honeyed oiliness, lovely ripe peaches, Meyer lemons, stony minerality background with some wetness, lanolin wool. Long finish. Excellent …

Really lovely Chenin. Nice nose of ripe pear and apricot that flow through to the palate. Really good freshness and length. Medium mouthfeel I'd say. Great wet mineralogy. Complex. Can't get enough of these great South African Chenins.