The Wine Pair Podcast

What’s All the Fuss About South African Chenin Blanc?

• The Wine Pair • Season 1 • Episode 148

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Chenin Blanc is the “it” wine in South Africa, but is it worth the hype? Spoiler alert - if you like an oaky Chardonnay or white wines with some body, you may really like this wine! No one is really sure how Chenin Blanc got to South Africa, or why it has been called Steen there for centuries, but one thing is for sure - if you want to taste some of the best Chenin Blanc in the world outside of France, the first place you need to turn to is South Africa. South Africa makes more than 50% of all the Chenin Blanc in the world, and has a strong reputation today for making excellent wine - but it wasn’t always the case. In this episode, we explore a bit of the history of Chenin Blanc from South Africa, and we taste and review two reasonably priced and easy to find South African Chenin Blancs which we bought at Total Wine (boo!) to see if they are worth your hard-earned money. And a shout out to listener Dominic who suggested this episode. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2024 Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc, 2023 Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc

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Show Notes

Episode 148: What’s All the Fuss About South African Chenin Blanc?  00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

If you are new to our podcast, here is a quick orientation! Each week, we explore a different wine varietal or blend or wine making area of the world — like Picpoul or Valpolicella or Chenin Blanc from South Africa — and dive into how to make great choices and what makes new wine so fun to learn about.  Our goal is to help you expand your wine knowledge in a fun way that is understandable and accessible to regular people, not just wine nerds!  We also taste and review 2-3 wines under $20 each, and share our scores and recommendations to help you find great wines without breaking the bank. So, thank you so much for joining us! And, we are proud to say that Decanter Magazine calls us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining. 

Carmela, a few weeks ago, we got a message from Dominic on Spotify who said that he would love for us to do an episode on Chenin Blanc from South Africa, and you know what?!? That is what we are doing here today! We really do love it when our listeners reach out to us and suggest things they want us to do episodes about - because, for one, it is often hard to determine what our listeners are thinking. We talk to you, our faithful listeners, every week, but when we record our episodes, we don’t get live feedback, and so hearing from you is a great way for us to understand what you think and if we are going down the right path. And, we also want to make content you care about, so when we get episode ideas from you, it is really fun for us to figure out how to do that. So thank you Dominic, and please, all of you out there in listening land, keep the feedback and the suggestions coming. 

Now, we did do an episode on Chenin Blanc a while back, nearly two years ago, called WTF is Chenin Blanc, way back in episode 19, so it’s been a little while since we have dedicated an episode to it. We also drank a Chenin Blanc in episode 97 which was about wine that pairs with Thai food. In both of those episodes, we had South African Chenin Blancs, both of which we rated pretty well. In the WTF episode, we drank the Secateurs Vintage White Wine which is mostly Chenin Blanc but has what the winery calls “a sprinkling of Palomino and another secret grape” and we gave it a combined 6.5 score. So, not bad, but not a clear buy rating. By the way, we really like the Chenin Blanc from the former NBA star Dwayne Wade. We gave his Three By Wade Chenin Blanc a combined 8.5 score, so that’s worth checking out.

In the Thai food episode, we had the Radley & Finch Alley Pack Chenin Blanc and we gave it a combined score of 7.5, so definitely a wine to look out for and purchase. We don’t like repeating wines in our podcast, so we have two new and different Chenin Blancs from South Africa to try in this episode, both of which I bought at Total Wine. 

Now, if you listen to us, you know that I am not a fan of Total Wine. You can listen to our minisode from about a couple of months ago called “Total Wine is Sus” to hear why, but let’s just say that one reason is that for a shop with so many goddamn wines, they have a pretty crappy selection. But, we know that many people shop at Total Wine, and they can be a convenient choice, so I thought for this episode we would see what we could find there and share with you our thoughts and if we can recommend either of them.  

Before we get to the wines we chose, though, we are going to do a little learning about Chenin Blanc from South Africa and figure out what the big deal is about because Chenin Blanc is the “it” wine grape of South Africa - did you know that somewhere between 50% and 60% of all of the Chenin Blanc vineyards in the world are in South Africa, and it is the most planted wine grape in South Africa? So, something is going on! 

And, in case you are confused, Chenin Blanc goes by a few other common names. In France, the wine Vouvray from the Loire is made from Chenin Blanc. In South Africa, it is also known as Steen, and in France, it is also sometimes known as Anjou, like the pear, and also as Pineau. So, just keep that in mind. 

This may surprise you, but South Africa is the 7th largest wine producing country in the world, and makes about 4% of all wine globally. And on a total side note, I ran into an article this week that talked about how global wine production is down this year, and that the Southern Hemisphere was impacted a great deal. Evidently, due to flooding and disease, wine production is down about 5% in South Africa which could impact wine costs, and even more so if there are trade tariffs. Anyway, there is a link in our show notes if you want to learn more. 

So, let’s get to learning and drinking because that is why you are here  . . . 

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug.

Thank you for listening to us and for supporting our show, and if you haven’t  had the chance to do so yet, now would be the perfect time to follow or subscribe to our podcast  - it is a free way to support us, and then you never have to miss a show!  - and a huge thank you to all of you who have subscribed already! 

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You can also follow us and see pictures of the wines we are tasting and trying today and weird AI pictures I like to make on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast, we are now on Bluesky as well if you are curious and we post differently on there than we do on Instagram. And you can contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com, and you can sign up for our email newsletter there and get news and food and wine pairing ideas and more! And you just missed our December newsletter, but if you email me at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com, I will send it to you! And we are offering free “I drink along with The Wine Pair Podcast” stickers - we talk about it in the newsletter, and so if you want some, just email me! They’re super cool! Be the first on your block to have them. They make great stocking stuffers!

And we want to make content you care about and you like, so send us a note like Dominic did and tell us what you like and don’t like, if there are wines you want us to try or wine making areas of the world you are curious about - and we’ll take care of it! And a shout-out to Christine who reached out to us on Spotify to let us know that she found a Chardonnay that she didn’t hate from J Lohr, and also shared a Shiraz and Nebbiolo that she liked! Thanks, Christine, and we appreciate so much when you reach out! And, just note that next week we are going to do an episode on sparkling Shiraz/Syrah!

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should recommend The Wine Pair Podcast to - because the best way for us to grow listeners is when you tell your family and friends about us because your endorsement is what matters. This week, we want you to recommend us to anyone who loves to find new white wines to try, or anyone who is a fan of South African wines because they will really like this episode!


ARTICLES and LINKS



Topic: WTF Is So Special About Chenin Blanc from South Africa? 11:18

Carmela, let’s learn just what the F is so special about Chenin Blanc from South Africa, and to do so, we are going to start with a little history lesson. Are you ready for some history?

It is widely believed that Chenin Blanc was among the first grape vines brought to South Africa. That part is undisputed. However, just who brought them over is not clear. Some say they were brought by a dude name Jan van Riebeeck in 1655 who served as the Commander of the Cape. 

But wait! There is another story of how Chenin Blanc got to South Africa, and in this story, Chenin Blanc may have arrived later with the Huguenots who fled France in 1685 because of religious persecution. The Huguenots were French Protestants, and South Africa was one of the places they fled to. These Huguenot were evidently good winemakers, and so this theory stuck for a while.

However, this story is probably not true, because the first documented wine production of Chenin Blanc in South Africa took place on February 2nd, 1659, 26 years before the Huguenots arrived. So, we’re going with the first version. 

Now, for some more history, while Chenin Blanc has been made in South Africa since the 17th century, it was known locally as "Steen" for most of that time. The exact origin of the name "Steen" is also very confusing, and the different sources I have, which you can see in our show notes, have different theories. Again. Not sure what is going on in South Africa, but you need to get your stories straight. Seriously. 

One theory links "Steen" to the Spanish wine grape Listán, and that early settlers may have adjusted  the name "Listán" over time to "Steen." However, in the 1920s, they figured out that another grape in South Africa called Fransdruif was actually Listán, so that theory is not correct. 

Another theory says there is a connection to the German word "Stein," meaning "stone." However, that is probably not true either because they can’t find a connection between South African Chenin Blanc and wine grapes from Germany. 

So, no one is really sure where the name comes from, but in 1965 the term Steen was starting to be used less and less, and only recently has the name started to be used once again. 

(However, recent years have seen a resurgence in the use of "Steen," potentially driven by a desire to assert a unique South African identity for the grape. Some South African producers prefer to use "Chenin Blanc" to differentiate their wines from the simpler, bulk-produced wines of the past.)

The reason they used the term Steen and not Chenin Blanc was because, for most of its history in South Africa, people actually didn’t  know that Steen was Chenin Blanc. In fact, it wasn't until the 1960s that its true identity was discovered. In 1962, Professor C.J. Orffer of Stellenbosch University came across a term and illustration in a book that he thought resembled the Steen grape. Orffer imported Chenin Blanc shoots from the Loire and compared the leaves to the Steen vines. The match was exact, officially confirming Steen as Chenin Blanc.

While a lot of Chenin Blanc has been made in South Africa for a long time, it was really not until about the last 25 years that it has been taken really seriously by winemakers in the area, and in the year 2000, the Chenin Blanc Association was created, and they were formed to promote the grape and encourage quality winemaking.

There is now a growing trend among winemakers to focus on older vines and lower yielding growing techniques, because they are trying to make more complex and flavorful wines. Today, South African Chenin Blancs are considered some of the best in the world and are known for their quality and distinctive character, often made up of ripe fruit flavors like melon, mango, pineapple, and grapefruit. 

But this reputation of quality was not always the case. 

For much of its history, it has been known as a “workhorse” grape in South Africa. During apartheid, there were a lot of sanctions on trade with South Africa, and there was an emphasis on bulk wine production in the country, and because Chenin Blanc as a vine is able to produce a lot of grapes, its value was seen in its volume rather than its quality. So, a lot of it was grown for use as a blending grape or for use in  brandy or just making bulk wine. But, this also led to lower quality wine, which has improved a lot over the last several decades, but this also meant that people were not paying much attention to it. 

Today, they still make a lot of Chenin Blanc in South Africa, and about a fifth of all vineyard space in South Africa is dedicated to it. South Africa is the largest producer of the grape in the world, making, as we said in our intro, more than 50% of all Chenin Blanc produced globally, and they make more than twice as much as the next highest producer, which is France where, as I also mentioned before, it is often known as Vouvray or Anjou.

Like all wine grape growing regions, climate change is a threat to South African wines. The good news is that Chenin Blanc is highly adaptable and resilient and so it may do ok even as temperatures rise. Maybe we’ll even see more of it being produced both in South Africa and other areas of the world.

But I think that it enough information, and so now  it’s time to learn a little more about the specific wines we are drinking today. Whaddya say?

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Chenin Blanc Wines from South Africa We Chose for This Episode 19:13

As usual, the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $20, and both of them should be relatively easy to find because I bought them at Total Wine. Which, again, we think is overall a crappy wine buying experience mostly because they just have all of these stupid Winery Direct wines, but again, since they are convenient and because there are like ton of these stores in the United States, every once in a while we will buy wine there - because you, our listeners, probably will as well.

This Total Wine was actually in the Lynnwood area north of Seattle, and I had to go up there because the local neighborhood Target store was out of the cornbread mix that I really wanted for Thanksgiving, and there was a Total Wine right by the Target, so I said fuck it and went in. Against my best instincts

The first wine we are going to drink is the 2024 Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc, and I could not find out a ton about this wine, but I did find out a few things. First, it is a screw cap. Hooray! Second, it is cold fermented and is left on the lees for one month, which is not a lot of time, but it should give it just a touch of creaminess and body. Remember, the lees is the stuff left over from the fermentation process that sort of gathers at the bottom of whatever vessel the wine is stored in. 

The area it is from is called Stellenbosch, and this is on the west side of the cape of South Africa, and is the second oldest town in South Africa, and is famous for making wine, and was the place the Huguenot refugees first settled, and why it became the center of South African wine making. It is not a big city, and today still numbers less than 80k people. 

The soil is mostly silty and clay, the terrain is hilly, and the climate is somewhat Mediterranean, with warm summers and cool rainy winters. So, it is considered a good place to grow wine grapes and make wine. And, remember, this is a 2024, but the wine harvest in South Africa, because it is in the southern hemisphere is 6 months earlier than in the northern hemisphere. 

But that’s all I got on this one, so let’s go to our next wine.

The last wine we are going to drink is the 2023 Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc, and this wine is made with grapes from both Stellenbosch as well as the Tygerberg Hills, and so it is considered a broader “coastal region” wine, officially designated as a Wine of Origin or W. O. in South Africa. The Wine of Origin designation is kind of complicated in South Africa because it can refer to specific areas like estates, or wards or districts - to much broader geographical units, or even very broad regions. If you want to know more, we have a link in our show notes.But I am not going to tell you any more about it. 

This wine is also a screw cap - hooray - and the wine maker’s tech sheet says that the grapes were hand-harvested early in the morning and pre-cooled prior to destemming and crushing. Skin contact was limited to four hours and the free-run juice drained off to settle overnight before inoculation - which sounds weird, but inoculation is just the process when they add yeast to the wine to start fermentation. Fermentation took place in 300L and 400L barrels. The wine matured for 7 months in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill French oak barrels.

So, this is a wine that his going to have some different flavors and a is a different style because it is fermented in big oak barrels  and aged in oak - older French oak, which should mean the oak is relatively mild and not overpowering - but oak nonetheless, and because it has some skin contact, which should give it some tannin. So this will be a good comparison with the first wine which is not oaked to see if we can taste the difference. 

But, I think that is enough information - let’s get to drinking! We’ll take a quick break and be right back. And, if you have these wines or similar wines, drink along with us, and if you do, send us a note via email or DM us and we’ll send you some stickers so you can proudly show you drink along with us. And, heck, even if you don’t have these wines, just send us a note, and we’ll happily send you some stickers!


ARTICLES and LINKS



2024 Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc, 2023 Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review 26:17

Wine: Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc
Region: South Africa, Stellenbosch
Year: 2024
Price: $17.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 12.5%
Grapes: Chenin Blanc

What we tasted and smelled in this Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc:

  • Color: Straw colored, light yellow, viscous
  • On the nose: Oaky, yeasty, bready, vanilla, creaminess, whipped cream, brioche, apple, apple turnover, raw almond
  • In the mouth: Tart, lemon, fruity, has body to it, sweeter than expected, pie spices like clove or nutmeg, peach, lingering aftertaste that is yeasty


Food to pair with this Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc: Spicy foods, fried foods, fish, a good seafood wine, shellfish, baked fish, fried fish, shrimp. Has a lot of flavor, so need a saucy fish. 
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, with no half points, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc Wine Rating: 

  • Joe: 7/10
  • Carmela: 7/10

Good for oaky Chardonnay lovers


Wine: Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc
Region: South Africa, W.O. Coastal Region
Year: 2023
Price: $18.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 13.5%
Grapes: Chenin Blanc
Professional Rating: WE 87

What we tasted and smelled in this Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc:

  • Color: Light, lemon water
  • On the nose: Burnt toast with butter on it, oaky, not much fruit, white grape, some lemon, some apple, apricot or peach on the swirl
  • In the mouth: Rubbing alcohol, burnt toast, apple, tannin, salty, lemon rind, peach, very strong aftertaste of burnt toast, metal, and airplane glue


Food to pair with this Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc: Fried foods, white pizza, vegetarian pizza, chicken cutlet, focaccia 

Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc Wine Rating: 

  • Joe: 5/10
  • Carmela: 4/10


Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

  • Carmela: Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc
  • Joe: Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc



Taste profiles expected from South African Chenin Blanc 37:13

  • General 
    • tropical and fruity, with notes of pineapple, banana, pear, and guava
    • Wine Folly: Quince, Yellow Apple, Pear, Chamomile, Honey
  • Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc
    • Winery: Yellow peach and quince notes are enhanced by nuances of straw, pineapple, fresh lemon zest and delicate yellow flowers. The creamy palate leads to a smooth, elegant and refreshing finish
    • JS (from Total Wine, but not sure about the specific vintage) A pure and restrained Chenin Blanc... Fresh apricots, green apples with hints of stones and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied and fresh on the palate with medium-high acidity and a pure but simple finish.
  • Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc
    • Winery: This wine offers aromas of Mandarin, Ripe peach, floral notes and honeydew. The palate is complex with ripe fruit and a lime fresh finish.
    • WE: This wine opens with a restrained nose that after a few minutes in the glass reveals light notes of citrus fruit. Ripe lemon flavors dominate the palate and are backed by a soft acid structure


Verdict: Chardonnay lovers may like this, we would prefer to have a Chenin Blanc that is unoaked. If you love Chardonnay we want to know what you think.

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 40:57

Ok, so, Carmela, it’s time for us to go, but before we do, we want to thank you very much for listening to us - and if you haven’t done so yet, now would be the perfect time to follow or subscribe to our podcast and also a fantastic time to leave us a nice rating and review on our website or Apple podcasts or other podcast app - and it is an awesome and free way to support us and help us grow listeners.

We would also love to hear from you about a wine you would like us to taste and review. You can leave a message for us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com and you can join our email newsletter there - and if you missed our latest newsletter, email me and I will send it to you. You can do that by reaching out at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com. And tell us some things you want to hear us do, or not hear us do!

Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.

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