Yayoi Vallée of the Kings Chenin Blanc 2024
- 95
- $38
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Swan Hill is not where most people look for serious Chenin. Said who? Steffi Snook walks right in with something of a knock-out. Given I am quite taken by Chenin Blanc, I am fully participating. The nose is rocky, almost Loire in its reminiscence of clay-silex grown Chenin, not because of the soil here – which is more calcareous loamy – but because of that darker, stony, tensile mineral register you can smell before you taste. Swan Hill is White nectarine, jasmine, a herbal tea quietness, then it swings to pineapple peel, between tropics and orchard garden. A dried honey meadow on the attack, lanolin waxy through the middle, a mineral streak running like a saline thread through the ripeness of Chenin fruit in the style of a plush Vouvray on a warmer vintage. For context, Vouvray is one of the great Loire benchmarks of the variety, taste it and you start to understand what Steffi is pulling here. The ripeness verges on tropical and never tips, stays restrained but generous, pear, peach, quince. The palate is zesty and flirty, the acid line pulling you back for more while the roundness asks you to sit with the glass and think. Salted peach, Sicilian green olives drenched in a wet martini. For me, this is joining the top league of Australian Chenin Blanc no doubt. An absolute winner.
Liinaa Berry is a Melbourne-based wine critic and consultant with over a decade of experience as a sommelier and wine buyer across Australia and around the world where she has built award-winning wine programs and championed independent producers with conviction. Now focused on reviewing and writing, Liinaa brings a floor-trained palate and commercial insight to her assessments. She is also the Melbourne Ambassador for Star Wine List and serves on the committee of Sommeliers Australia. An advocate for site-driven wines and thoughtful farming, Liinaa is particularly drawn to producers who articulate a clear sense of place. Her tasting philosophy centres on structure, balance and context — always asking not just how a wine tastes, but why it matters.
