2018 Balance Chenin Blanc

When most wine people think of wine from South Africa they immediately think of Shiraz, bulk wine labels, and overly jammy fruit bombs of wine. But the South Africa wine scene started to change in the early 2000s and now these producers in the Western Cape of South Africa are making world-class vino. Our team had the chance to visit a handful of the winemakers earlier this year. The head winemaker for the Balance wine brand is Ben Snyman. He guided us through his vineyards in January and chatted about these big changes in South Africa wine and explained why "Chenin Blanc is the most diverse grape" and his favorite.

Moving away from bulk wine toward estate-driven, single varietal offerings is what Balance is all about. Chenin Blanc has such a rich history in South Africa and finally, the best versions of their wine are making it to the US. The Balance Chenin Blanc is tropical and vibrant kinda like a limited edition Starburst inspired by the Caribbean passion fruit, guava, and star fruit! The sugar was just replaced with booze making these extra special Starbursts.