Winemag’s Prescient Chenin Blanc Report 2021: Mariëtte 2019 under the Top 10
In this year’s Chenin Blanc Report Mariëtte 2019 scored 93 points, securing the wine a place in the Top 10.
For the second annual Prescient Chenin Blanc Report, 90 entries were received from 67 producers with 49 rating 90-plus on the 100-point quality scale. Among the Top 10, five were from Stellenbosch, one each from Breedekloof and Swartland and three were multi-regional blends.
The panel was inclined to reward wines that saw fruit to the fore and not hidden behind stacks of new oak.
As is well documented, the variety is capable of a wide array of legitimate but divergent expressions, and yet the very best iterations increasingly seem to be where grapes are not left to tire out in the sun but are picked relatively early, thus allowing the variety’s crisp and invigorating natural acidity to shine forth.