The judges of the 2007 FNB Private Clients Wine Magazine Chenin Blanc Challenge (or FNBPCWMCBC) encountered an interesting dilemma. The dilemma was born out of the fact that, of the 125 entries, there were so many good wines that the final eight had to be separated into winners and near winners by the judges scoring these from one to eight in order of personal preference.
Two wines emerged as five star winners, and were seriously closely tied in preference: KWV’s Val du Chêne 2004 and the Forrester Meinert Chenin 2004. These wines are at opposite ends of the stylistic divide. The KWV is austere and dry and a rather medium-bodied wine, while the FMC is a rich, bold and powerful wine.
Both wines were judged good enough to merit the full five stars, but the KWV emerged as the overall winner. There seemed to be some panel preference for the more reserved style of wine – and later the commentators praised the fact that the drinkable wine (which is also well priced at R45) emerged victorious, a triumph of the demure over the diva. Had the FMC won, we would be talking about a wine that costs R230 and sends a very different message to the consumer about what constitutes good wine.
I am the first to praise this happy day – may it mark a sea-change in the way that overblown wines tend to win the day in show after show. However, this result is marred by the fact that the FMC winemaker, Martin Meinert, was one of the judges and had to score his own wine in the last eight. Did he recognise it? If not, the result is what it is. If he did (and it is a wine that is not easy to miss, plus he’s the hand that made it) it puts him in an awkward position. He either had effectively to mark his wine down lest he look like a blatant opportunist, or be that same opportunist.
Imagine the hue and cry if his FMC had won and his score was not discounted. Either way, this curious judging method (most would call it an error) does not sit well and put Meinert in an awkward position.
So the wine competition continues to be controversial, and at the same time a powerful marketing tool – as I experienced that same weekend when my family held their annual Beaumont Open Day. The Hope Marguerite 2005, which had just garnered four stars at same Chenin Challenge, seemed all of a sudden to taste better (and more like an R80 bargain) when punters learnt of its lucky day at the races.
The fact that Meinert was on the panel seriously discredits things for me. I am as happy as you that the award went to more reserved style of wine – but the fact that the judges were “leaning” towards this style this year doesnt make it any better. Next year are they goingt o lean toward ‘overblown’ wines? where is the consistency, it certainly confuses the public about what constitutes a good chenin blanc – one year a overblown wine wines, the next a far more reserved wine!!
I found your article in Wine Mag on the subject of matching the winning Chenin with food a great read. It seems to me that you were a little lenient on Bruce Robertson – even in reading the detail he didn’t seem to get it right – and although he could have tasted something different in the wine it seems his cooking ego/style got ahead of him? just my take on it, but a great read thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it – it was tough to describe the wine without being too hard on it… This Challenge seems to have most people at odds with the way the competition ran and has not done Wine magazine much favour. Ken Forrester was openly angry in a response on wine.co.za to Pendock’s description of the event, with some justification if you consider the FMC did actually win on points!
I guess the “winemaker/rock star girl triumphs” makes for much better reading and headlines!?
which did you prefer of the two wines?
I thought Wine Mag (and their judging) was more transparent than that – disappointing to say the least.