Quite often I find myself drawn to the interesting rather than the delicious. Adi Badenhorst is making awesome wine in South Africa. Jancis likes, Jamie Goode likes it, and pretty much everyone with a decent sense of awesome in wine likes it. He's a bit of a nutter, but in a groovy, lightning in a bottle kind of way. He's frequently described as a 'surfer dude' even though he doesn't surf.
He makes a couple of brilliant entry level wines, 'Secateurs' and he makes his 'Family Wines' which are his top blends. And then he makes this. Which I think is 100% Chenin Blanc that's barrel fermented and aged with flor. But without fortification. So it's kind of like that weird Niepoort Navazas thing. But with Chenin and in South Africa.
Weird. And awesome. Which pretty much makes it par for the course.
Quite golden - with a kind of sherbet-y brightness to it. A real, glowing yellow.
Beeswax with lemon curd. There's also summer hay and roasted limes. Quite the lovely nose.
Cool. That's like biting into a lemon dipped in beeswax and honey, only to find it's been stuffed with oats and roast lime rinds. It begins with big, fat generosity - mouth filling and boisterous but that citrus net keeps it all in check. That rich lemon, honey, oat and hay rounds out on the mid-palate and then, as the finish approaches the roast limes come through and tug back, leaving a bracing dry finish. This is a groovy wine. I plan on drinking quite a lot of it this summer.
*****
Tasted 28/3/2011 at Luvians Bottleshop
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