Wildekrans Walker Bay Chenin Blanc Barrel Select 2009 91-93 Points

Wildekrans Walker Bay Chenin Blanc Barrel Select 2009 91-93 Points


Clear, day bright, pale straw with slight green tinge, medium viscosity and medium concentration, no evidence of gas or sediment.

Clear with medium plus intensity, bright Granny Smith apples, yellow citrus fruit, just ripe tangerine, delicate minerality and fragrant vanilla and frangipani note, light toast, honey, complex delicately wooded and multilayered.

Dry to off dry, medium plus acidity, medium plus alcohol! New flavours of grapefruit skin, medium plus complexity and medium plus length.

Served at 11 degrees celsius with pan seared salt & black pepper sea bass, deglazed with fresh lemon juice, fennel salad and extra virgin olive oil from Walker Bay / Hemel en Aarde area, now until 2020.

Wildekrans have been consistently good to great with their Chenin Blanc, testament that Chenin thrives better in a moderate climate rather than a warm to hot climate, which is the feature of 85 % of the Cape Winelands.

The picture at large also leads to understand that Chenin Blanc does well in Walker Bay district, such as the Beaumont Hope Marguerite or even their “entry level”.

Wildekrans red on another side has been mostly disappointing to date, except for the barrel select Pinotage, consistently fantastic and another testament that some of South Africa’s finest Pinotage are indeed from Walker Bay district and it’s wards such as Hemel en Aaarde, Bot River as an example, think of Beaumont, Southern Right, Springfontein, Stanford Hills, Ashbourne, that’s already 5 solid South African Pinotage, worth of listing on any well respected wine lists or a well though cellar.