Millton Clos de Ste Anne La Bas Chenin Blanc 2013 Manutuke, Gisborne, New Zealand 75cl

Millton is New Zealand’s biodynamic pioneer, the first estate in the country and the first in the Southern Hemisphere to earn Demeter certification. James and Annie Millton have farmed at Manutuke in Gisborne since 1984, and the Clos de Ste Anne is their steep, single-vineyard jewel on north-facing hillside slopes. Everything here is farmed biodynamically and certified by Demeter, with the vineyard treated as a single living system.

La Bas is the lower-lying plot on that hillside, planted to Chenin Blanc and worked entirely by hand. The grapes are fermented with the vineyard’s own wild yeasts and lees-aged for months in large-format oak, a serious, low-intervention approach aimed at texture and length rather than obvious fruit.

The 2013 vintage gave this wine ripe concentration, and with time it has grown into the honeyed, complex phase that good Chenin reaches only with age. The barrel-fermented style is built for exactly this kind of development.

Expect aromas of honey, citrus curd, almond blossom and ripe stone fruit, with a savoury, spiced edge from the barrel work. The palate is full-bodied and concentrated, its luscious yellow-fruit character held in balance by the grape’s bright, mineral acidity through a long finish. There is a waxy, textural quality that is pure Chenin, and the wine still feels fresh and alive.

This is a wine for Chenin lovers and the genuinely curious, a demonstration of how far the grape can travel outside the Loire and South Africa. Serve it with roast poultry, richer fish or firm cheeses, and treat it as a white with the structure to reward further cellaring.