£19.68, Justerini & Brooks
You can pour this and drink it straightaway with pleasure, but it repays time in the glass handsomely. Decanting is another option. It's also best not to chill it too heavily. At first, it's linear, taut and savoury with salty wet rock and crunchy green apple flavours. After 5–10 minutes, while losing none of its crackling energy and steel, sweeter apple and peach emerge alongside fresh lemon and preserved lemon, hints of honey and spice and a texture that combines creamy depth with chalky chewiness.
2019 is the second vintage of this Chenin Blanc from Swartland-born winemaker Jolandie Fourché who sourced half the grapes from a vineyard on decomposed Paardeberg granite and half from a vineyard outside Malmesbury on soils rich in iron. The name Wolf & Woman (I knew you'd ask) was inspired by a line from a poem: "Some days I am more wolf than woman, and I am still learning how to stop apologising for my wild."
There's so much depth to the wine that it can handle quite bold flavoured food. It wasn't set off especially well by a dressed Cromer crab, although it was a better match for the stronger brown meat than the white, but it would go well with prawns, or scallops with lardons and some sweet smoked paprika, and it went well with lamb shanks braised with pomegranate molasses, honey, mint and lemon – intense flavours that would have floored many a red wine. It would also be a good partner for vividly flavoured salads. 13.5%
Wolf & Woman Chenin Blanc 2019, Swartland, South Africa
£19.68, Justerini & Brooks
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