New & very exclusive: Ken Forrester FMC Premiere Selection Moelleux Chenin Blanc 2010

High Timber’s straight-talking Neleen Strauss is renowned for telling it like it is but, on this occasion, I reckon it’s more accurate to describe Ken Forrester FMC Moelleux Chenin Blanc as FMC’s sylph sister!

This new release (just 500 bottles made) is exclusive to High Timber which, South African owned, specialises in top Cape drops. Strauss and I got together to taste the wine last Friday over three dishes prepared by High Timber’s Justin Dry:

• Dorset scallop with avo, chilli and lime
• Mousseline of sole, beurre blanc
• Sea bream, fennel, orange and sorrel

So no bad thing that, despite the Moelleux tag, it’s a sylph sister. (In the Loire, moelleux identifies sweet styles of Chenin, which are typically paired with dessert or blue cheese, or enjoyed as an apertif by the sweet of tooth).

In fact, given its residual sugar of RS 17.93g/l, I reckon Forrester’s Moelleux is closer to a Demi-Sec Chenin from the Loire granted, given it’s South African, its acidity is somewhat lower (TA 5.91, pH 3.45). (Tonight I’m showing a Vouvray Demi-Sec from the Loire which has 28g/l of residual sugar).

At any rate, it certainly tastes more like a Demi-Sec, showing lovely precision, line, purity and freshness to its citrus (steely grapefruit & sweeter orange) fruit. This is an elegant, sleek Chenin Blanc whose underlying minerality and citrus acidity deftly balances its silkier honeyed fruit. While the impression of honey lingers, the finish is clean.

So what of the food matches? By common consensus, the starter of Dorset scallop with avocado, chilli and lime worked best. The butteriness of the avocado and scallop’s sweetness and silkiness complemented the wine texturally. Its freshness chimed with the kick of lime, while the sweetness tamed the chilli.

The extremely delicious, super-smooth mousseline of sole with beurre blanc on a creamy mash simply out-riched the Moelleux. The match lacked contrast – one could be killed by kindness by a combo like this!

With more zing, texture and layer, the sea bream, fennel, orange and sorrel dish and Moelleux had much more to say to each other. If the Moelleux chimed with the lime, it was ring a ding with the orange, while the wine’s mineral notes struck a chord with the cooler fennel.  A great combination of flavours though, ultimately, the orange emulsion proved too rich for the wine (which didn’t stop me from wiping clean my plate!) Keep the orange but lose the emulsion and this just might work!