Say Less Chenin Blanc 2023

Profile & Story

Hardy McQueen, a chef turned wine negociant, founded Nice Beverage Co in July 2020, during an especially turbulent time in the South African wine scene. Although the global pandemic froze wine sales throughout the country, it provided an opportunity to reshape the white, male and wealthy narrative that has long defined the world's largest producer of Chenin. Nice Beverage Co has been designed from the ground up to uplift and give space to emerging wine talents, especially women, black winemakers and those traditionally excluded from winemaking spaces; today all of the winemakers in the Nice Beverage Co come from marginalised communities in South Africa. There is no house style beyond a general enthusiasm for lower-intervention winemaking - only natural yeasts are used, for example - and championing the diverse terroir of South Africa. Wine-specific: sustainable farming; 100% Chenin Blanc drawn from a bush-vine single vineyard planted in 1993 in the "exceedingly traditional but underrepresented" winemaking region of Paarl; 15% skin contact, the rest of the wine direct press. Made for Nice Beverage Co by winemaker Kiara Scott-Farmer, who became the youngest head winemaker in South Africa at 26 and was named Diners Club Winemaker of the Year in 2024. Around 12.5% ABV.