Under the Influence of White Wine in Durban

Yesterday evening was a perfect evening for white wine in Durban, as are the other 345 hot days in this great city! The tasting had the aim of taking a journey through South African white wine. From the light and tart Sauvignon Blancs to the full bodied and rich white blends, we are hugely blessed with the diversity of incredible wines South Africa has on offer.

The evening began with the ever popular Sauvignon Blanc category. Just why do we love the stuff? Well, it has flavours that are very recognisable, like greenpepper, citrus and gooseberries. Importantly it has beautiful crisp acidity, which tells our brain “eat more, drink more”, and not being one to argue, we do both! Also, the wine is fruit driven, without the barrel flavours of butterscotch, vanilla and smoke that some people aren’t too crazy about. We tasted the following Sauvignon Blancs:

• Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc
• Clos Malverne Sauvignon Blanc
• Bouchard Finlayson Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a wonderful mirror for climate and soil and these wines showed that, with the cooler climate Bouchard Finlayson showing beautiful restraint and crisp fruit, whilst the Clos Malverne had oodles of riper tropical fruit. The Steenberg took a middle ground. What a great combination of wines!

Next up was the lone Chenin Blanc, a grape varietal that is hugely exciting in this country, coming off the back of the bad old “Stein” days! We tasted the Remhoogte Block Number 6 Chenin Blanc. This wine shows awesome fruit, slight nuttiness from a smattering of oak and lovely freshness. A beauty!

Moving right along, after some tangents talking about Burgundy and white truffles (this happens), we hit the Chardonnay category. Another versatile grape, we tasted the unoaked Jordan Chardonnay and the De Morgenzon Chardonnay. These differ hugely due to the pure fruit of the first and the integration with oak in the second. The De Morgenzon had another dynamic going on, with the Chardonnay apple and citrus fruit combining with cinnamon, butterscotch and honey from the oak. Phew! Both superb wines, grown very close to each other, but the treatment in the cellar shows off how versatile Chardonnay can be.

We then hit a South African white blend, where all the personalities of the grapes can meld together to form something along the lines of a beautiful mind! The Lammershoek Roulette Blanc is a firm favourite on our side, check out the special with FREE delivery in the shop. The wine is a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Viognier and takes complexity, rich fruit, spiciness in white wine and texture to a new limit. See some results from a recent white blend tasting here for more on the subject.

Lastly, just to show off some South African expertise in France, we tasted the Domaine Grier Maccabeau Viognier, hailing from the Languedoc Roussillon. Un Beau vin!

A huge thanks to James, gent with ‘tache next to lovely lady, for getting so many people enthused about wine in Durban. More great tastings to come (in new glasses).