2024 Brash Higgins CHN Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc isn't exactly the poster child for McLaren Vale, but Brad Hickey makes a compelling argument for it. This 2024 release marks the tenth vintage from the Willamba Hill site in Blewitt Springs, and honestly, it keeps getting better. The vines sit on deep, ancient white sands that seem to drag a saline, maritime character right out of the ground.

Brad leans into that texture rather than trying to polish it away. He leaves the juice on skins for two or three days - just enough to grab some phenolic grip - before sending it to seasoned French barriques for a wild ferment and a 12-month nap. It creates a wine that feels substantial and layered.

In the glass, it’s waxy and savoury, with a distinct salty kick that sits right alongside flavours of lemon verbena, preserved lemon and ginger tea. There’s a tropical hint of papaya in there, but it’s reined in by that mineral backbone. It’s complex and chewy, drinking more like a serious white Burgundy than a simple quaffer. A top-quality example of what the variety can do in Australian soil.