Rall White Blend 2019, where to start…? Best to start with the obvious things, I feel. Rall White Blend 2019 is clearly bonkers.
“Why so?”, you ask. It is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Verdelho and Viognier. These grapes all make good wine on their own, but blending them is a the work of an agonyclite. Does it work? Let us get popping and find out!
White Blend 2019, Rall
OK, Rall White Blend smells weird as hell, but it is wonderful!
The waxy, gooseberry skin aromas of Chenin, the crisp pear and apple of Verdelho and the honeysuckle, nectarine and stone fruit aromas of Viognier do not exist as an abaction, they are not percribated. Rather they combine synergistically to create a honeysome whole that positively flickers with explendency. The Rall White Blend smells simply delicious!
It smells big, too, but is only 13.5% so it is not alcohol that is driving the sense of scale, rather the natural weightiness of the fully ripe grapes and, I suspect, a tiny amount of extended skin contact after crushing.
The Rall White Blend is a huge mouthful of power and density. However, it is no kemple of flavours, there is philoxeny between these disparate varietals.
Not only do all those fruit flavours combine in a delicious melange, there is plenty of balancing acidity keeping the palate lively and energetic despite its scale.
The Rall White Blend has a savoury feel at the edges of my palate, it feels almost, but not quite astringent. ‘Savoury’, that’s the best word for it and it is a characteristic I find highly attractive in white wines. This sits with an umami tang that throws all the flavours into sharp relief, making this quite the delight to taste.
Rall White Blend 2019 has a very long finish with a slight saline edge revealing itself as you swallow. All most pleasing. We had this with a rich chicken and leek pie and it was a fine match that could really handle the powerful flavours of the pie.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to try the best of these whacked-out South African blends; I love it!
I should point out that this is from the ‘Coastal Region’ WO in South Africa.
