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| 2023 Mulderbosch - Chenin Blanc |
What do you think of when you hear a business, any business is into "sustainability"? I could have this all wrong but the first thing that I think about when a company uses that word is that the business is doing whatever it can to sustain itself and remain in business. Ahh...yeah Desert Wine Guy, no duh. Okay guys, I get it, that was the answer you all came up with as well but why then do wineries just love to say they are sustainable on their labels and brag about it when someone from the winery is interviewed? The answer is marketing. Look at us guys, we care about our vineyards and the environment. Don't get me wrong, caring about the environment is great but I think in the end, when it comes down to it, there is self sustainment, and marketing involved here more than anything else. Ahh, good old marketing, how wonderful it is and how it fools so many consumers into thinking that a particular company is doing something so very special in this case for for the environment when in reality they are simply saving themselves money and trying to guarantee that they will remain in business.
This word "sustainability" is used to try and impress the customer and therefore, have them support (buy) their product. I would expect nothing more from a company than to do whatever they could to remain in business and create profit. Well, this is my take on the matter but right now, let's get into wine.
Today I want to talk about the 2023 Mulderbosch - Chenin Blanc. I paid $14.99 for this wine and I bought it because I wanted something different, from some place different. I wanted a wine from some place I actually don't think I ever had a wine from. Scanning the shelves, I came across this wine and what really caught my attention was not only the label but the fact that it was from, South Africa. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol and was matured in 30% neutral 79 Gallons and 132 Gallon French oak barrels as well as in a few 396 Gallon foudres (large wooden vat). Maturation was for 8 months in barrel and in tank on gross lees which is dead yeast that settles to the bottom of the tank along with the skins from crushing the grapes. The grapes for this wine are from Stellenbosch, South Africa. and the wine is 100% Chenin Blanc.
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| Chenin Blanc & Pizza |
Label wise, I like it. I like the whole thin stripe label thing going on. I love the colors chosen here as well as the appearance of quality the label seems to display. That sounds weird huh? The "appearance of quality" just based on a label. Guys...I don't know, it just felt and appeared like mass effort was put into this label which immediately translates (thought wise at least) into the wine being a quality one but we will soon see.
Appearance wise in my glass the wine is beautiful guys, simply beautiful. A bright yet light golden color liquid is really showing itself off here guys. There is almost a sparkling appearance to the wine and no, not a carbonation type sparkling but a shiny sparkling appearance none the less. What makes things even more enticing is that the room I am reviewing this wine in is not very brightly lit and yet this wine is impressive...stunning looking actually.
On the nose now, I am getting a bright, fresh, tropical note of light green pear and apple. Being that the nose is rather simple, I hope the wine itself will be showing a lot more on the palate.
As far as the palate is concerned, this is a wine where lemon tries to dominate but do not let that scare you away from it as this attempt is only mostly successful and the lemon that you do taste (and enjoy) is not a sharp or harsh lemon. This is a lemon that puts on display a rather very expressive note of florality. This is a lemon that knows what could be offensive and over the top and how to tone those things down and help to lift up other notes that indeed refresh. This lemon has plenty of company which wonderfully meshes with and compliments it very nicely. As an example, there is white pear which is light, fresh, semi bright and tropical.
This white pear comes into play just after the opening of the wine and it is well placed. This white pear is thankfully missing a lot of its normal sweetness which is a good thing. While not bringing along an abundance of sweetness, the pear sure does bring along its flavor. Ripe Granny Smith apple is here as well and like the pear, it too manages to restrict its normal sweetness but yet bring along its flavor and freshness. I certainly can't forget about a note of apricot that has a bit of a stone type note to it. All the fruits here are amazingly well presented and refreshing.
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| Chenin Blanc - Tasting Profile |
Bracing acidity is big here guys and it certainly makes its presence known. This acidity is joining forces with a lesser amount of minerality and together, both are really very nice. Passion Fruit is here as well guys and is as juicy and fresh as everything else is. As a side note, thankfully there is no butteriness here, like none. A nice limestone note is certainly here as well and it too rocks. This limestone note is not exactly underlying nor does it come in after the opening of the wine, it is front and center to begin with and again, rocks. Orange peel is here as well and it lies deep within the wine but is nonetheless good at doing what it needs to do which is to help elevate it. This orange peel note will make you sit back in your chair and make you think about what you are tasting but in the end you will appreciate it. Folks, make no mistake about it, this is overall a dry wine but there is no mistaking that there is just enough of a needed tropical fruit freshness and sweetness to the wine to help rather than hinder this wine rating what it does in the end.
Speaking of the end, here we go, the conclusion of this review. This is not a creamy (maloactic) type wine, this is a crisp, minerality/crisp and tropical fruit driven white wine with among other things, nice lemon and acidity helping or assisting it to be what in the end is a clean wine. These grapes appear to have been picked early as there is really not much sweetness present which is one of the things that I loved about the wine. This wine is coming across much more like a French Chenin Blanc rather than an African one. I just have to cut to the chase here. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 94 points and yes, as soon as I get another bottle it will make my cellar, it was that good and that enjoyable. For $14 guys, this wine was a steal and is highly recommended
The Desert Wine Guy
P.S - If you would like to know more about the wine, here is the tech sheet. https://mulderbosch.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mulderbosch-Chenin-Blanc-Steen-Op-Hout-2023-Spec-Sheet.pdf
