The Francophile Chenin Blanc

Sourcing and creating The Francophile Chenin Blanc marked a departure for Rick who commissioned the making of this wine from a fantastic resource of old, bush vine Chenin, rather than liberating an existing parcel. It’s intended to be sustainable and repeatable; to be enjoyed copiously in the knowledge that it is not subject to the finite quantities imposed by The Liberator Episodes or Special Editions.

With Rick’s Francophile palate in mind, these parcels were selected from two growing sites, namely the Bottelary Hills and the Simonsberg mountains. In collaboration with his old mukker, Carl van der Merwe, they were fermented in stainless steel tanks to maintain freshness. Without recourse to any malo-lactic fermentation, the wine was aged on its lees, prior to being bottled.

For those commentators content to view South African Chenin Blanc as the primary source of industrial quantities of sub-standard supermarket promotional fodder, think again. This is no facile example; it’s a wine that is designed to demonstrate what can be achieved with a little bit of care and attention in both the vineyard and the cellar. It might well remain South Africa’s most widely planted grape variety, but it’s a fact that should be celebrated and not dismissed.