Polperro Chenin Blanc 2024
Polperro Chenin Blanc 2024
$50, 12.7% alcohol, DIAM cork, Mornington Peninsula.
I wouldn’t say that Chenin Blanc is having a moment, because interest in this variety remains marginal. But it’s getting a lot more column inches – to use an old term – than it has in the past, the cool kids are all over it, and demand for Chenin grapes and indeed Chenin plantings is on the rise. Chenin Blanc is the grape variety that got me in to wine in the first place, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so I’ve always had an affection for it and I’m happy to hear of the rise in interest. In terms of my own drinking/spending habits though I would have bought a few chenins by the glass over the past 25 years but by the bottle; I can’t remember any. No bottles of Chenin bought for personal consumption in 25 years! That’s an admission.
This release from Polperro is grown on new vines. In fact I think that this 2024 is both the first crop, and the first commercial crop of Chenin Blanc on the Mornington Peninsula ever. I personally wouldn’t be tempted at $50, or at least on face value I wouldn’t, but the wine in the glass, itself, is excellent. By the glass though, I’d be all over it.
Elevated scents of apples and pears lead to a dry, textural, energetic palate of flavour and interest. This is a lovely wine, no doubting it. In fact the interplay between flavour, texture, energy and tension is quite seriously impressive, not to mention enjoyable. There’s a brightness and a buoyancy to the fruit here and yet in general this is a stony, minerally, savoury wine. Kudos. Respect. This is good. 94 points.
