Margrain Martinborough Chenin Blanc 2020

Description

Apple, Grapefruit, Off-dry

"Quite an aromatic, floral chenin blanc with grapefruit, green apple, melon and lime juice. An initial suggestion of sweetness is balanced by tangy acidity to give the wine a medium-dry finish and good sweet-and-acid tension. Lovely purity and should age well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jan 2022

The hallmark of Chenin Blanc in our cooler climate is the omnipresent acidity which remains in the grapes as they ripen. This carries through into the finished wine and there is no formula for calculating the level of residual sugar that may be required to balance it. 2020 was not a warm year by recent standards yet the grapes developed intense flavours which also help to give the wine the body it needs to carry this lustrous acidity. Power and focus!

Up, up and away, the nose is ship shape and Bristol fashion as it springs out of the glass to scramble up the rigging like a natural born sailor. Rich rock melon, tangy grapefruit blossom and sticky dried papaya powerfully hint at a wine bound to be jammed to the gunwales with flavour. Granny’s lavender smellies, crystallised ginger and bright marigolds wrapped in crinkly cellophane tower over more complex notes of beef pho, salty popcorn, chermoula spice mix and chopped lemongrass tied up in a burlap gunnysack.

As predicted, this is a crowd pleaser. Big, round and voluptuous it packs a super heavyweight punch yet is harmoniously balanced as the 15g/L residual sugar rubs carnivorously up against both the spiny acid backbone and the shark tooth mat of fine phenolics. Pink fleshed Star Ruby grapefruit, luscious guava and thick berry coulis add an unctuous weight and a waxy/oily thickness while a sensation of crispy cauliflower rice adds to the calcareous texture. The finish is long and smouldering and you can almost sense violins playing during the sad departure, the scene reminiscent of a distraught war bride being torn from her beloved soldier boy.