Firstly I have to say I have no preference for either New World or Old World wine so I was going into this blind tasting with my eyes clearly blindfolded. They were two 2007 vintage Chenin Blanc’s, one had seen oak aging and the other had not.
For the Old World wine it had some very distinctive characteristics of Citrus, Green fruit, Stone fruit, Peach and Apricot and a hint of Blossom flower. These notes followed through to the palate with a medium body, instensity and length. Overall a very good wine which could be aged or drank straight away. The New World wine was not only higher in alcoholic strength, at 14.5% but had also been aged in oak and these secondary characteristics were distinctive on both the nose and palate with Toast, Butter, Toffee, Honey and Vanilla flavours mixed in with Tropical fruit tones and Melons. With the higher number of secondary characteristics due to the oak aging this wine should be drank rather than laid down for years. Definitely another very good display of the Chenin Blanc.
Majestic Wine sells a range of Chenin Blanc and can be found on their website.
