After being a bit disappointed with the last South African Chenin Blanc I tried, I was on the lookout for more, hoping to find something that would excite me. Chenin Blanc is after all one of South Africa's signature varieties.I dropped into Thorold Wines on Sunday, and saw this wine from Raats. I had never heard of it, and had no idea what to expect.
To be honest my experience wasn't that much different from the Ken Forrester wine. I didn't think this had a lot of varietal character, things like apple and honey like I notice in Loire Valley wines. These seem to be sort of neutral, crisp whites that are initially pleasing and refreshing but don't really seem to offer much else.
The Raats website contains some impressive accolades for this wine. Maybe I'm somehow missing the point?
Original Chenin Blanc 2009
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Thorold Wines
£8.80
2.5/5
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I felt the same way recently when I reviewed the Naked Wines Tor del Colle Riserva Montepulciano D.O.C. 2007 ( http://www.regularwino.com/reviews/tor-del-colle-riserva-montepulciano-2007/ ).
ReplyDeleteWhile there were plenty of reviews raving about, I just did not get it. Sometimes this happens I guess. You always feel like you're missing something.
Incidently I did try the Chenin Blanc 2010 and it was quite nice, although all of the great reviews were for the 2009.