“This is another magnificent creation from this regal old vine Darling Chenin Blanc vineyard” - Greg Sherwood MW

“Chenin at its ragged, rugged, sonorous, glorious best.” - Tamlyn Currin, 17 points

Pound for pound, this must be South Africa’s best-value ‘premium’ Chenin Blanc. Alex Milner, who cycles around The Cape searching for forgotten vineyards that he can bring back to life, has hit the bullseye once again with this outstanding release from the adorably-named region of Darling. It seduces the eye with its appealing straw-gold colour, suggesting that there’s no over-ripeness here, as does the alcohol content of 13% abv. Beautiful aromas of honeydew melon and white nectarine and that lovely summery scent of honeysuckle on a warm breeze. It’s sweetly succulent as it introduces itself to the palate, but the acidity immediately brings a whiplash of excitement and keeps the wine tense and dry and full of energy, showing sour mango, white peach and lemon. There’s a comforting silky texture that holds the wine together, being neither too viscous nor too thin, and helps spread the flavours evenly across the palate. Chris Alheit’s ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’ used to be the best value ‘premium’ Chenin Blanc from The Cape, but that came to an end when Chris realised that he was seriously undervaluing the fruit and diverted it all into his more expensive ‘Cartology’, so this Chenin Blanc now wears the crown! 13% alc. Sourced from certified heritage vineyards. Basket-pressed into barrel for 9 months. Drink now-2028.

NB The bottle has a soft wax seal. Simply insert your corkscrew through the wax and extract the cork as normal and the wax will come away with the cork. If you feel the need to start a Twitter feud about the merits of wax seals, please pour yourself a glass of this first, take a moment, and then see how you feel.


Press reviews:

Greg Sherwood MW: “"The Axle Chenin Blanc is made by Alex Milner of Natte Valleij winery from grapes sourced from a dryland old bush vine certified Darling heritage block planted in 1985 on decomposed granite soils. Made in a very minimalist, low intervention manner without losing any of its fine wine integrity, this wine is a classy textural style of Chenin Blanc. The grapes were basket pressed and allowed to settle for 24 hours, then racked into old 225 litre oak barrels with careful addition of fine lees sediment to each barrel. After a natural fermentation, the wine received regular bâtonnage until late May. Aged in barrel over winter, the wine was bottled in the Spring after 9 months. In the glass, the wine shimmers with a translucent golden yellow straw intensity, revealing rich exotic aromatics of incense, potpourri, grapefruit marmalade, yellow peach, dried apricots and attractive hints of stem ginger. The addition of the fine lees really adds another dimension of texture and complexity to the wine, lending an almost Sauternes-like breadth and opulence to the nose. The palate is equally plush, glycerol and broad but with a majestic coolness and creamy harmony that allows delicate notes of tangy apricot, peach and dried guava to linger on the long, intense dry granitic finish. This is another magnificent creation from this regal old vine Darling Chenin Blanc vineyard and undoubtedly a wine that is going to woo its already sizeable cult following. Drink on release and over the next 5 to 8+ years." 95 points

JancisRobinson.com: “Chenin at its ragged, rugged, sonorous, glorious best. Like a sculpture that the sculptor left halfway finished because s/he didn't have the words and the rock from which it was hewn did. Like honey on quarried marble; like a tablespoon of crème brûlée followed by a cool breath of thyme. Custard apples. Silk and sand. (TC). Drink 2024-2029.” 17 points

Tim Atkin MW: “Alex Milner has been using this 1985 block on decomposed granite soils in Darling since 2018, handling it oxidatively in barrel for more complexity. This shows the freshness and minerality of its site, with oatmeal, thatch and white flower aromas and pear and pithy green apple flavours. Drink now-2028.” 93 points

Winemaker, Alex Milner, writes: “My wife loves the more textured styles of Chenin blanc, so I thought it would be fun if I could make her one. We were wanting to make a style that was low in alcohol, allow us to work completely naturally, but yet have a balance of acid that would have you coming back for more. We spent the most part of the winter of 2017 tasting and visiting various vineyards, to find the one that fitted our desired profile. Welcome to our Darling vineyard, which from the onset, we knew we had something interesting.”

Winemaking

“To achieve our desired goals, extreme care is taken to pick these grapes at the optimal ripeness, this happens in late January. Harvested by hand and then further sorted in the cellar, to ensure only the best fruit is used. Grapes are whole bunch pressed in our basket press, this juice is cooled and allowed to settle. The skins from the press are then put into a tank and left overnight to be lightly pressed again the following day. This is our skin contact component and adds a perfect depth to the final wine. The clean juice is then racked to seasoned barrels, some fine lees is added. Fermentation begins slowly after 2-3 days. malolactic fermentation also occurs naturally. Post fermentation baronage occurs fort-nightly for 2 months. Wines are left sur lie for 10 months in their barrels, after which it is racked and bottled. Made with minimal interference and pretence - preserving the intrinsic link between bottle and grape.”

Old dry-farmed bush vines on decomposed granite. Basket pressed and left undisturbed in a barrel for nine months.

Customer Comments:

”The Axle Chenin Blanc rather restored my faith in South African Chenin” - Mr S.C.

”Love the Axle Chenin!” - Mr. J.M.

“It’s excellent stuff.” My D.O.

”Tried the Chenin last night - it’s great!” - Mr. F. L.

”Wine received. Two have already disappeared! It's great!” - Mr. M. D.

“Do you have anymore of the Axle Chenin? Just opened a bottle, wow, I'd like to buy some more...” - Mr D.L.

”This is awesome. Really lovely SA Chenin.” - Mr. V. S.

“Just purchased 2 more cases of the Axle.. I’ve decided it going to be Xmas presents for everyone this year.. it’s very good!.” - Mr J.L.