Spier Chenin Blanc: late summer just found its perfect match

The Sip takes a look at the insight behind the Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc.

With the days still long and the mercury still soaring, it’s little wonder that Spier Executive Chef Lolli Heyns’s go­to varietal is Chenin Blanc.

“Chenin is a refreshing varietal that can be made in completely different styles – and it goes really well with summer foods,” she explains as she welcomes us into the kitchen of Eight, the farm­to­ table restaurant at Spier that she helms.

“We use fresh produce organically grown in our food garden to really showcase the seasons at Spier – and this means we often match Chenin with our farm­style dishes at this time of year.”

“Chenin has a beautiful flavour profile: it’s mouth­watering – the glands in your mouth literally start watering. Very few other varietals have that effect,” adds Spier Cellar Master Frans Smit.

Heyns particularly favours the Spier Signature Chenin Blanc, which is fresh and fruity in style, for its tropical aromas. It’s an ideal match for lighter dishes such as a courgette soufflé with gruyere.

“The crispness of the wine cuts through the earthiness of the goat cheese and you are left with something spectacular – a perfect balancing of crisp flavours and richness,” says Heyns.

“The full­bodied Spier’s 21 Gables Chenin Blanc is rich and ripe in style, and therefore pairs beautifully with rich dishes,” she says. She recommends creamy West Coast mussels with white wine, leeks, lemon and cream. “The wine offers a great fresh balance to the richness of the cream.”

About the Spier 21 Gables Chenin Blanc:

This wine is sourced predominantly from vines more than 40­years­old growing in a single vineyard on the slopes of the Tygerberg Hills in Durbanville. This bright and yellow­tinged beauty has been oak­fermented and matured for 14 months. The nose immediately offers ripe, baked apples and apple pie spice. A combination of savoury notes and pure fruit gives beautiful layers of complexity to a rich entry and powerful palate. This is a full­bodied, seriously structured Chenin Blanc that will age well over the next decade.

www.spier.co.za