Vanessa

9.1

Cheers to old-vine Chenin Blanc from South Africa! 🇿🇦 In South Africa, Chenin Blanc also goes by the name “Steen.”

It’s such a versatile grape and wine, capable of producing beautiful sweet, dry, still, and sparkling wines.

This wine is still and dry. We’ve paired it with sushi and it’s a delightful duet.

The grapes for this wine were grown organically in the Citrusdal Mountain district, north of Cape Town, west of the Olifants River, on the Western Cape. The bush vines were originally planted in 1957 (old!!), contributing to an intensity and a concentration of primary aromas and flavors in the grapes.

Indeed, the nose and palate offer medium(+) aromas and flavors of ripe pear, yellow apple, white peach, vegetal, boxwood, white blossom, crushed stone, and aged cheese rind notes. Lively acidity gives it lift and balances the high alcohol and intensity of fruit.

This wine was produced by Ginny Povall, American-born proprietor and self-taught winemaker of Botanica Wines. I love the botanical images on her labels, each an homage to the flower farm on which she began her wine production journey in South Africa.   

Botanica Wines, Chenin Blanc (Mary Delany Collection), 2019, ABV 14%. — 4 years ago

with Deked1

Scott C

Founder / Co-director SR Wine imports

8.9

Roses , Turkish delight . Good balance a really nice Grenache — 5 years ago

Marieke Alsguth

9.7

Well I drank the whole bottle so clearly it wasn't bad — 7 years ago

KDouglas

9.4

Love. Amazing botanical flavors. Smooth, lovely. — 8 years ago

Peter Wassam

8.9

Whoa. literally does a fosby flop out the glass. The most intense wild raspberry and violet you ever did smell with some twizzler in the byke. I gotta get in more botanical gardens huh. Siltiest tannins I ever did see. But my big qualm with a lot of these so-called "natural" wines at this price point is under delivers on complexity — 8 years ago

Jared O'Connell

9.0

This is great stuff. Love to grab a few bottles every year when we stop by on vacation. Surprising complexity and balance. Very few wineries on the East coast can pull this off so well. — 9 years ago

Zachary Miller

9.1

I do not like Gin..... I love this Gin... enough said — 9 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.0

had a long visit at the mayacamus touring up and down the vineyards and tasted in the new-ish tasting room after renovation since the old one got burnt down :( 2011 was a cool vintage (like 2006, 2010, 1998)- the transition vintage and 2012 was the first vintage of the new team. 17 was a fine vintage. 13 - limited quantities due to high demand. higher up here in elevation affords more flexible harvest timing. early ripening clone 7 (site dependent) is used for its loose clusters thus stem inclusion (wat??) We tasted through 2007, 2010, and Chardonnays and Cab Sauvs. The 2010 tastes like a fruit basket - red blue fruit pomegranite, blueberry pie, botanical garden, eucalyptus, high acidity, tight tannins, bright acidity with a lift (acid tone...or VA). The 2007 is singing. Red black currants, cassis, tobacco, pencil shavings, black pepper, leather, high acidity, long finish, med+ body, elevated/high fine integrated tannins. — 4 years ago

John Willison

9.2

White peach, nectarine, rose water, botanical water, dusty citrus finish. Complex Rose. — 5 years ago

Steven Beishuizen

9.2

Very, very good on my estimation. We had this with a simple lasagna and salad, but this glass of wine really popped. Raspberry here and some botanical element I really can't describe. Not exactly anise or clove, but present under the surface. Savory. Well done. Complex and structured. Worth seeking out. — 6 years ago

Jordan Wardlaw

9.1

Welcome to Terpene Town. Forcefully resinous compounds in massive waves; aromatics and flavors that remind me of my grandmother’s oil painting studio, which happened to double as an indoor botanical garden but was nowhere close to Italy. Perhaps some Adriatic oceanity is expressing itself here in a mysterious form, but that seems like a far stretch so I’ll simply call it Purple Flowers and Turpentine. Curiously intense and oddly nostalgic. This Riserva spent 3 years in barrel but has managed to keep the Oak Monster suppressed in favor of much more unique and quirky nuances. — 8 years ago

Sean Wallner - WSET II

9.7

Cherry, red licorice, some game and botanical herbs. Soft on the palate, bursting fresh red fruits, cherry, plum, graphite and subtle coffee notes. Such an incredible wine! — 8 years ago

Naboth van den Broek

9.0

Rosato verging on red. Minerality, hints of cherry (but more like an early spring cherry, if such a thing exists), and some ash/Etna. The old Sicilian farmer's wine that makes you really want to be an old Sicilian farmer. — 9 years ago

Victoria Berry

9.0

Light, fruity, juicy, nice white wine. — 4 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.3

Vivid ruby. Musky cherry and red currant aromas, along with hints of botanical herbs and allspice. Gently chewy and focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry, red berry, spicecake and licorice flavors that turn sweeter through the back half. Dusty tannins add shape and grip to the long, spicy finish, which leaves cherry pit and baking spice notes behind. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, February 2022)
— 4 years ago

Brian S

9.2

This beer has the most beautiful color, looks like a sunset in the Caribbean. Lovely flavor of plums. — 6 years ago

with Ellie

Kathryn Fischer

8.9

Strong apple and Chardonnay taste but delicious! Less bubbly than prosecco. Very enjoyable. — 8 years ago

zachholesun

9.4

At Union in LA, post-Botanical Gardens. Classic malbecy flava — 8 years ago

Jeff Moskovics

9.5

Tasty complex cider that's not too sweet. Love it! — 9 years ago

Frank Rotello

9.0

Super drinkable rose. Had a rare botanical minerality with the palette. Great with grilled chicken — 9 years ago