Painted Wolf ‘The Den’ Chenin Blanc, Swartland

In 2006, Emma and Jeremy Borg decided to create a wine company with two main aims – to raise money to build a more hopeful future for endangered African wild dogs and to allow Jeremy to pursue his ambitions as a winemaker, which he has done with great determination and flair.

The company has a number of strong collaborations, with friends from all walks of life, and this has combined to create wines from a small number of growers in some of South Africa’s prime sites, including Paarl, Swartland and Stellenbosch. Jeremy has selected low-yielding areas which are mostly unirrigated and farmed organically or with minimal organic outputs. There are three distinctive ranges that include some rather interesting and unusual wines that are deliberately a bit off the beaten track and over the years around R3.5 million has been raised and a further considerable sum for social upliftment projects.

The wines in ‘The Den’ range are intended to be social wines to be enjoyed with friends and family, named for the den, the heart of all African wild dog communities. These are flavour-packed, soft and juicy comfort wines for every day drinking.

This lively Chenin Blanc has fresh lemon and pear aromas with notes of tropical passion fruit. There is crisp acidity and a hint of oak which adds to the texture and wonderful fruit flavours that linger on the palate. Once again this is a definite step up from many South African Chenin wines, whilst remaining exceptional value.