The Liberator Chenin Blanc | Stellenbosch, South Africa

“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) 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.”

This is the opinion of ‘The Liberator’ – aka Rick – the alter ego of Master of Wine Richard Kelley. He one of the most respected authorities on SouthAfrican wine in the UK and beyond. Between 1995 and 2002 living and working in the Cape, witnessing the renaissance of the post-apartheid wine industry, affording him access to distinguished cellars and winemakers.

He is renowned for ‘liberating’ great wines (maybe an occasional experimental batch, or possibly an interesting off-cut from some proud winemaker’s latest premium release) that are resigned to a tragic fate of being blended away or disposed of in bulk.

Sourcing and creating this 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.

With Rick’s Francophile palate in mind – convinced that Chenin Blanc is, in fact, the world’s greatest grape variety – parcels were selected from two growing sites, namely the Bottelary Hills and the Simonsberg mountains. In collaboration with winemaker Carl van der Merwe before he departed, the grapes are fermented in stainless steel tanks to maintain freshness. Without recourse to any malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged on its lees, prior to being bottled.