Alex Milner hits the bullseye again!

 "Alex Milner has a gift. Something special shared by only a few, and for now I am selfishly grateful that his wines have not become as iconic as those of, say, Eben Sadie or Alheit. God knows they should be."
- JancisRobinson.com

Axle Chenin Blanc, Darling, South Africa 2025

Some wines have a good vintage. Axle Chenin Blanc seems incapable of having a bad one. Year after year, Alex Milner’s brilliant South African Chenin Blanc continues to raise the bar and, pound for pound, it remains one of the finest-value “premium” Chenins coming out of the Cape today.

Axle Chenin Blanc, Darling, South Africa 2025
Best UK price (will be £26.95)
6 bottles - £149.70 (£24.95/bt)
12 bottles - £287.40 (£23.95/bt)
buy online here

The Story Behind Axle
There’s a winemaker in South Africa who cycles around The Cape looking for forgotten vineyards. Quite literally, on a bicycle, pedalling through the heat and dust, hunting down old vines that the modern wine industry left behind. His name is Alex Milner, and the wine he makes from those rescued vineyards is called Axle — an anagram of his own name, which tells you everything you need to know about how personally he takes all of this.
 
Alex studied winemaking at Stellenbosch, took over his family’s 300-year-old estate in 2005 — a property that hadn’t produced wine in over half a century — and has spent the two decades since turning it into something genuinely special. He built his early reputation as a ‘Master of Cinsault’, but Axle Chenin Blanc has long since taken on a life of its own.
 
Alex has an extraordinary touch with Chenin. The balance always feels effortless. Nothing pushed. Nothing flashy. Just pure, confident winemaking that lets the fruit and vineyard speak clearly. And the critics agree. Axle has built a reputation for overdelivering year after year, collecting glowing reviews for each vintage he’s produced (see the impressive scores below) and winning a loyal following along the way.

Chris Alheit’s ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’ used to wear the crown as The Cape’s best-value premium Chenin Blanc — until Chris decided he’d been undervaluing the fruit and redirected it all into his pricier ‘Cartology’. That left a vacancy at the top. Axle filled it, and hasn’t looked like giving it up since.

“Alex Milner has a gift. Something special shared by only a few, and for now I am selfishly grateful that his wines have not become as iconic as those of, say, Eben Sadie or Alheit. God knows they should be. These are wines that should be cult wines, but I hope (Alex, please forgive me) they never do become that, because part of their beauty lies in their accessibility and Milner's modesty.”- Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com

The New Vintage
The bar has been raised once again with the 2025 release of Alex Milner’s (certified) Old Vine Chenin Blanc ‘Axle’ from the adorably-named region of Darling. It’s a labour of love from Alex and, as such, it seems to improve year-in, year-out, and this feels like the most complete vintage yet. It’s a little tighter and more textured than the 2024, bristling with energy and tension, but always with that core of succulent fruit and its summery scent of fynbos on a warm breeze.
 
The texture holds the wine together, being neither too viscous, nor too thin, and helps spread the flavours evenly across the palate. Until recently, Alex used a basket-press to extract the juice for the grapes, knocking up an impressive 80 hours of manual pressing each year, which he says “practically finished me off!”. So, he has now bought a pneumatic press and the 2025 vintage was done mechanically, which means that the wine was exposed to oxygen for less time and is notably lighter in colour and fresher in character than earlier versions. This is what great Chenin Blanc does better than almost any other white grape: generosity without heaviness, freshness without austerity. 13% alc. Aged in barrel for 10 months. Sourced from certified heritage vineyards. Drink now-2032.
 
JancisRobinson.com: “Certified Heritage Vineyard Chenin bush vines planted in 1985 on decomposed granite. Some whole bunch and some destemmed with a bit of skin contact. Spontaneous fermentation in old 225-litre French barrels and large cask. Aged 10 months on lees. Fragrance on the nose shifting, dappled, like spring sunlight through bare branches fuzzy with buds. Petrichor, apple blossom, acacia flowers, brick dust. Alex Milner’s chicane of making a bone-dry Chenin taste like a dessert wine. Baked pears set within a crystal cluster of acidity, prismic in its brightness, in the way it seems to split and bend the frequency of the wine’s energy into a blade of rainbows. Spiciness – cinnamon, fine-ground cigar, cardamon – rising and falling on the breath of the wine. Drink now-2032.” 17.5 points
 
If you already know Axle, you’ll want to stock up. If you don’t, this is the vintage to discover why so many people rave about it.

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.

In all its releases to date, the Axle Chenin Blanc has notched up quite a résumé:
 
2024
17.5 points, JancisRobinson.com
96/100, Greg Sherwood MW
93 points, Tim Atkin MW

2023
17.5 points, JancisRobinson.com
93 points, Tim Atkin MW
 
2022
17 points, JancisRobinson.com
95/100, Greg Sherwood MW
93 points, Tim Atkin MW

2021
18 points, JancisRobinson.com
94 points, Greg Sherwood MW
92 points, Tim Atkin MW
 
2020
18 points, JancisRobinson.com
 
2019
17.5 points, JancisRobinson.com
John Platter, Five Star accolade
 
2018 (maiden vintage)
17 points, JancisRobinson.com
John Platter, Five Star accolade

And it’s also become a firm favourite with our customers. Here are some of the reactions we’ve had to it (including previous vintages):
 
“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.” Mr 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.

"Wonderfully characterful old vine Chenin Blanc", Greg Sherwood MW

How the Axle Chenin Blanc came about
Alex Milner decided to make his own Chenin Blanc to satiate his wife's predilection for the varietal (and possibly because he was fed up of buying other winemakers’ Chenin). Being the chap that he is he didn't just knock up any old Chenin, he found an old vine (37+ years), dry farmed, ocean-facing vineyard in Darling and promptly began to guide beautiful Chenin Blanc grapes into this outstanding wine, which has delighted customers and critics alike. Now that is what I call a win-win situation. How does the saying go? Happy wife, happy life.
 
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 new 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.”