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EP 842 South African Chenin Blanc Tasting

Gary explores this white wine, specifically from South Africa. Chenin Blanc, also known as Steen, can bring some great value to the table.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2008 Sizanani Chenin BlancSouth African Chenin Blanc
2008 Savanha SteenSouth African Chenin Blanc
2009 Teddy Hall Chenin BlancSouth African Chenin Blanc


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luca bercelli

92/100

line of the day – ‘This wine stinks, tastes like water with rocks and a little topsoil’

This is what GV is all about. Entertaining, opinionated and fast-paced. Love it

Tags: chenin blanc, review, South Africa, Video, white, wine, wines

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  • NYP thanks for the heads-up. starting the slow download now…spent my lunchtime in the WLTV archives and missed this.

  • waynoooo daaaaa winoooo

    Yo Mike B & cellarrat5 , THAAAANXX for the VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIBE !!!!!!!!!! :o)

  • Anonymous

    Any man!!! Keep on keepen on!!

    Sent from my mobile brain washing device.

  • Brian Social

    First! SA chenin blanc (steen?) is great. There is some tasty stuff coming out of SA lately.

  • Neil

    I'm in (sorry Crank)

  • johnfarrin

    top 5.

  • JCN

    That is either GV's favorite shirt or he taped about 20 episodes one day.

  • XpensiveWino

    Top 5!!

  • RANDINTHECITY

    GARY!!!
    XOXO

    QOTD: Who? LOL More fruit then veggies

    🙂

  • Brian Social

    This happens a lot here. I get the first comment, then a few minutes later, I find out I was shuffled down to 6 or whatever.

  • Brian Social

    Oh, never mind. Maybe it is first. That's what I get for being up late at night with new twins..

  • NY Pete

    hey hey

  • NY Pete

    in case u guys missed this one …
    http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/499842575/work-w…

  • Off the beaten path

  • That first wine label reminded me of Karate Kid.

    QOTD: It makes me think of that scene from “Can't Hardly Wait” with Trip McNeilly.

    QOTD #2: V8 spicy, but I like fruit too…

  • Slushpuppy

    qutd: Teddy Roberts
    Smell it first. TR

  • Phaser

    OK,
    Funny and a new quote for the book, “This wine should not be drank by humans.” .

    QOTD: Fruit for the most part.

  • guymandude

    I find most of these are a good qpr.

    Both on veg. and fruit .

  • norcalwingman

    I would punch someone in the face (maybe Teddy Hall) —LOL!

    I don't mind the veg in white wines, we get some Sauv Blancs with Bellpepper or Jalepeno hints and I dig it.

    BTW, what's with the Iron Shiek?

    –Later–
    Brian
    http://norcalwingman.com

  • jason Carey

    Gary, I have told Mott about this too.. you have to improve your video software, so that you can not have those huge level changes every time a graphic comes up on the screen., Try Final Cut express.

  • lordsauvignon

    Awful… really bad… unacceptable… haha your honesty is awesome.
    QOTD: Teddy Hall would be that kind of kid in your high school with that drawn out southern accent who isn't all too bright, but works really hard and you know him, but just enough to say hey in the hallway, but other than that you don't see each other except maybe waiting at the carpool lane to get picked up after school and you do the awkward look in the eye for a second just to see if you should give him the awkward highschool head nod, as his parents drive him away. Thats what come to mind when I think of a name like Teddy Hall.

    I am totally a fruit monster. Not all that into the vegetal thing.

  • jsums

    Fun episode! I replayed the dump/shake on the first wine about 10 times LMAO! TEDDY HALL!!! = CHARLIE MURPHY!!! Just the way you inflected it or something. QOTD – Love the veggie action. A stinky/veggie Cab Franc gets me all worked up…same with some good mint/bell pepper mojo on a Cab Sauv or a little jalepeno note on a Chardonnay. Now, don't get me wrong, it's gotta have some solid fruit to work for me…but incorporating some veggie aspects into the fruit makes a wine more compelling to me.

  • Teddy Hall would be a good nickname for a bar that is now in Newport Kentucky that is actually called Roosevelt Hall. Get it? Teddy Roosevelt. It was a very hip place with live music when it was in downtown Cincinnati. But it moved; as the did the 5 start restaurant (yes, it was 5 star Mobil) “Le Maisonette” across the river. It still has live music but not as cool as the original space.

  • drt999

    QOTD — sorry, blank today

    long day, I guess. . . .

  • missatiejacket

    nice episode; high energy despite the first wine being horrible. I think wines as green as the one you described are made from grapes that are not mature. That's a problem for me. Those flavors do not interest me in wine and I find them very one dimensional. I do not consider any wine that shows only green flavors to be of good quality. I guess if I liked the style more I wouldn't mind the wines so much, but to me quality wine has to be made with fully mature grapes. (There might be some exceptions to that such as certain German rieslings, but it depends on one's definition of ripeness — I guess I favor mineral flavors over vegetal ones)

  • Loved the show Gary I love how much that first wine upset you (you're not alone)

    I have to say I disagree with you. I think South Africa offers quite poor value for money. 2008 was a monster vintage so they made a boatload of stuff and 2009 was pretty poor, there's not a great deal out there for a bargain. Plus I think their Shiraz's and Sauvignon's are poor compared to Chile/France/NZ/Australia at the same price points. Pinotage and Chenin don't do it for me either, i get the feeling that a lot of South African wine makers don't know how to/won't make fruity wine. I'm all for the veggies as well, but just cos it doesn't have fruit doesn't mean it takes green and vegetal. Often it just tastes bad (I hate generalising about countries but I am doing it now)

    I have had some pretty rough experiences with Chenin Blanc and all South Africa wines at the moment. (though vouvray kicks ass for me) I reckon at those price points the 2008's won't be holding up, 2009's will definitely be much fresher. At work we are so put off by the awkwardness of South Africa that we describe the usual negative South African character as just a 'South African' nose. Not really fair to do that in a negative context but it takes too long to say burning tyres in a rusty skip filled with rotten fruit.

    If you seriously have good S.A. wine out there for under $10 I'm all ears

  • waynoooo daaaaa winoooo

    YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW, Chenin Blanc in daaa HIIIZZZYYY !!!!!!!!

  • 750ml

    That last minute of the show was classic. West Coast throw it up, Love Boat, Hatorade.

    ?OTD Teddy Hall is South Africa's answer to Benny Hill.

    My palate is not quite there for the green machine. Still like me the fruit first.

  • My comment was no way near as exciting as yours! Loving the energy

  • laurieinvt

    QOTD: Uhhhm- Annie's little brother if there had been one? Did you page through old psych textbooks to come up with that? 😉
    I like vegetal aspects as long as it's well balanced with the fruit.
    Fun show, btw.

  • I love South African Chenins, and there are far better wines of this variety to be found in the country. The Teddy Hall is a bit too much Sauvignon-like for my taste. Decent wine, but nothing compared to, say, Beaumont, Forrester Meinert or Jean Daneel. Would love to see those reviewed on the Thunder Show…

  • castello

    Wow! Thanks! He's spread thinner than we thought. Good luck trimming down that schedule G.

  • boomy13

    I like both vegi and fruit. Time and place for it all. You say Teddy Hall I say Teddy bear. Dont know Hall.

    Nice show GV. Kickin it old school.

  • Paul Blank

    I liked the episode.Dont know much about South African wines.Green with veggie flavors no idea. But will enhace the pallet to try some. Qotd Teddy Hall sounds Like a Movie star, Music star and an Athlete all together. Have a great day Gary and hope Mott is getting better.

  • corkscrew

    What's up with the Iron Shiek so much..going commie on us..Can't say I have had much Chenin Blanc…not a South African wine fan..thin..watery sounds delish QOTD-who the hell is Teddy Hall?? Fruit would rather eat my vegies not drink the. http://www.winelx.com

  • jparadise

    OK…I don't want to suck so I am a lurker no more!

    I like the green in moderation. More into the heavy acid play but a little veggie is ok.

    QotD: I think of a spa place on Palisades avenue called “Teddy Hall Massage”

  • castello

    I used to feel that way about South American wines but they have improved over the decades. Let's hope SA can do the same.

  • bobbytiger

    QOTD:
    When I think of Teddy Hall, I (now) think of the best of three bad wines.
    Chenin Blanc?
    I'll stay in New Zealand, thank you.
    Veggies or fruit?
    Don't really care. If it taste good, (which clearly the Savanha didn't), I drink and enjoy it.

  • I hope so, they don't seem to listen to their customers. I think that style is popular in S.A. but that's just what I hear. As South Africa was founded by the Dutch who only grew grapes to make spirits (need neutral grapes) I can see why they're having some trouble.

    By country comparison I reckon Torrontes and Malbec knock 'Steen' and Pinotage out of the park.

  • Hey Gary

    Thanks for the show. I don't mind 'green' style wines, BUT I think food matching is probably even more important with them than a lot of other styles.

    QOTD: 'Teddy Hall' – could be a good name for a fashion label…

    Cheers
    Andrew

  • Was the first wine a pazzzzzz? 🙂 Just wondering. A great show as always with some so-so wines which is what I usually find with SA CBs. You can love 'em or hate 'em. Something like the Duke Blue Devils. If only that last shot went in. Damn.

    QOTD: Good question I must say. Love the vegetal whites but lean toward the slighty fruity reds such as Oregon pinots.

    P.S. McNabb in DC? I wish I had the $$$ to play fantasy football with a real team.

  • Oh forgot. “Teddy Hall” no clue. I can see a bunch of Victoria Secret gals parading around a college “hall” in teddies?

  • Avoid wines with sunsets on their labels. That first one looked like a Pablo Cruise album cover

  • Randall

    No, GV just listens to his fans and has now adopted it as the OFFICIAL WLTV uniform!

  • waynoooo daaaaa winoooo

    Yeeeaaaah, Didn’t He play wit Ty Cobb ???!? :o)

  • cellarrat5

    yeah, waynooooo has an style that is often emulated but never duplicated.

  • Phil G

    Respect the green, but love the fruit…

  • cellarrat5

    good call on the label spot.

  • Michael D

    Gary,

    Can't say I was especially impressed by your reaction to the South African wines today. Spiciness in wine is great for me – such as black pepper on the finish. Don't care for vegetal flavors at all in my wine.

    It seemed as though the sound of this episode did not match the video for some reason. Just thought you might want to know.

  • cellarrat5

    Decent show, like the style of it, lots of metaphors and a couple of classic GV moments. I believe that was the longest period of silence in WLTV history, but hey shitty wines can take a persons breath away as much as face melting wines can.

    QOTD 1: who?

    QOTD 2: vegetative aromas and flavors can be good in moderation, but in my opinion they have to be working in tandem with one or more other elements. If the bell pepper asparagus thing is all they have going for them then its a pazzz for me. I love me a good fruit bomb, but again if there is nothing else or the other aspects of the wine are completely masked, then its a no go.

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