I love this wine so much. I had it with Doug Wregg at Terroirs. It’s Chenin Blanc at its best. Thierry Germain Domaine des Roches Neuves Clos Romans Saumur 2012 Loire,…
A Chenin Blanc seminar at Texsom
Patrick Cappiello and Pascaline Lepeltier presented this Chenin tasting at Texsom. ‘I deeply believe that Chenin is the best white grape in the world,’ says Pascaline, a very highly regarded…
Mother Rock and Force Majeure: brilliant wines from Stompie Meyer
Johan ‘Stompie’ Meyer is one of the most highly regarded of South Africa’s new wave winegrowers. He makes the wines for Mount Abora (as a consultant), and has his own…
Testalonga Cortez El Bandito 2009 Swartland
I’m a big fan of Craig Hawkins’ Testalonga wines. They’re very brave and distinctive. He works pretty naturally, so the big question: how do they evolve? This one had evolved…
Video: judging the Standard Bank Top 10 Chenin Blanc competition
Here’s a short film of the judging of the Standard Bank Top 10 Chenin Blanc competition
A new ‘icon’ Chenin from South Africa: Dirty Little Secret
This is the much talked about high-end South African Chenin Blanc from one of the grape’s greatest ambassadors. I managed to catch up with Shawn Mathyse, a young winemaker who…
In South Africa: the Mullineux new releases
I visited the new tasting room at the Leeu Collection in Franschhoek, to taste through the new releases of the Mullineux wines. It’s a lovely space, with glass windows looking…
A lovely Loire Chenin: Richard Leroy Les Rouliers 2012
I’ve had this wine a couple of times now (both times at Noble Rot, but Sager & Wilde are also listing it). It’s a stunning wine that has the most…
Three lovely wines: Testalonga, Commando G and Domaine Labet
Had lunch at Moro today with Emily Harman and Laura Rhys. Mark Andrew was supposed to join, but he had to fill in for someone at Noble Rot, so after…