My year of wine: At point blanc range

Once one of my fancy friends said she always drinks sauvignon blancs, and because she is who is, I adopted that same principle . Usually when I buy a white wine, I buy a sauvignon blanc.

But occasionally, like last weekend, I let price or label dictate my decisions, and land up with a chenin blanc or a chardonnay.

It is chenin blanc that has most pleasantly surprised me.

When I asked my new best wine friend, Janice Scheckter, about it, she told me South African chenin blancs are fabulous.

The chenin blanc is a work horse, a versatile grape, she told me. The grape, the chameleon of white grapes, is made into dessert, semi-sweet or zesty dry wines, and is used for the production of brandy.

In South Africa, it is the most commonly planted grape variety, and of the approximately 38243 hectares of chenin blancs planted worldwide, 18818 are planted here. My friend also tells me that many people believe the chenin blanc is the wine with the most global potential.

"One day chenin blanc will be recognised as the iconic South African wine."

The local Chenin Blanc Association's website states that it is a little known fact that South African chenin blancs are among the world's finest.

However, in 2012, writing in the New York Times, Eric Asimov said he was very disappointed with his tasting of 20 South African chenin blancs.

"They lacked the signature floral, mineral and citrus aromas and flavours, often underscored by a suggestion of honey."

Maybe I am too unschooled or maybe things have improved since 2012, but I find our local variety lovely indeed.

Scheckter suggested I try Stellenbosch winemaker and chair of the association Ken Forrester's Old Vine Reserve and his cheaper Petit. I also tried the 2013 Secateurs from Badenhorst Family Wines in the Swartland.

All of these chenin blancs flowed happily down my throat this weekend.