+MUST TRY+MAN Vintners' Chenin Blanc
South Africa: Perdeberg Region of Paarl
100% Chenin Blanc
2009
$8.99
89 pts
What a wonderful little budget-priced white! For under $10.00 US, the MAN Vintners' Chenin Blanc offers lively and rich citrus fruit, balanced with nice acidity (food friendly, indeed). But what makes this wine stand out to me is that on the very back end, post-fruit and post-acid--like a last little wink at the crowd before exiting stage right--there's a delightful hint of minerality, of the shale in the soil in Paarl. There are many good wines at this price that present decent fruit, but very few that also bring a pleasing bouquet of melons, a nice mouth feel, plus minerality (reflecting the unique terroir of the region) and a length that allows--albeit just barely--for such complexity. The 2009 MAN Vintners' Chenin Blanc is not the best wine in the world, nor the most sophisticated. But a versatile 89-point white that most would really enjoy with a meal or all by its lonesome on a warm day, for under ten bucks a bottle...this one's a MUST TRY.
No comments:
Post a Comment