Beaumont ‘Hope Marguerite’ Chenin Blanc 2022 Bot River, Walker Bay, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Beaumont is a family farm in Bot River with one of the Overberg’s oldest cellars, its history reaching back to the 1700s. Hope Marguerite, named after Sebastian Beaumont’s grandmother, is the estate’s flagship white and a benchmark for what old-vine Chenin from this corner of the Cape can achieve.

The fruit comes from the farm’s oldest bush-vine Chenin Blanc, planted in the 1970s. Whole-bunch pressed and fermented with natural yeasts in older French oak barrels, then aged on the lees, it is a serious, textured white that still keeps Chenin’s bright, orchard-fruit heart. Those old vines are a genuine quality signal, giving concentration and depth that younger plantings rarely match.

The 2022 vintage produced fresh, well-balanced whites in the Cape, with good natural acidity. That balance is the making of this wine, which feels rich and layered yet stays lifted, precise and beautifully in tune.

Expect nectarine, ripe pear and quince, with subtle spice and a fine, toasty note from the barrel. The palate is full but fresh, with a creamy, lees-worked texture and a long, gently saline finish. It is lovely now but will reward several years in the cellar, gaining honeyed complexity with age.

A wine for the table, it pairs beautifully with roast chicken, creamy fish dishes or mature cheese, and has the presence to carry a special meal. If you love white Burgundy or top Loire Chenin, Hope Marguerite belongs firmly in the same conversation, and holds its own with real, quiet confidence in that company.