Cawston Crossing Chenin Blanc 2018 Paarl, Coastal Region, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Cawston Crossing is an approachable South African label built around easy, honest drinking. Its wines come from the Western Cape’s Coastal Region, with this Chenin Blanc drawn from the Paarl district, a warm inland area with a long white-wine tradition and plenty of ripe fruit to draw on.

Chenin Blanc is South Africa’s signature white grape, planted more widely here than anywhere else in the world, and it shines in this fresh, unfussy style. Made as a single variety and kept bright and fruit-forward, this is Chenin at its most sociable, designed for enjoyment rather than contemplation.

The 2018 followed a dry Cape season that gave ripe, flavoursome whites. This is a wine to enjoy for its immediate freshness rather than long ageing, and it is drinking easily and happily now.

Expect ripe pear, apple and a squeeze of citrus, with a clean, crisp finish. Light to medium in body and dry, it is refreshing and uncomplicated, the sort of white that disappears from the glass without any effort. Serve it well chilled.

A versatile everyday white, it suits light fish, salads, roast chicken or a relaxed evening with friends in the garden. If you like a soft Pinot Grigio or an easy-drinking dry white, this friendly Paarl Chenin fits the same undemanding, good-value mould. Keep a bottle in the fridge and it will earn its place as a dependable midweek pour, ready whenever a cold glass is called for and asking nothing more of you than that simple pleasure.