2022 Brash Higgins CHN Chenin Blanc

Flavour-packed Chenin Blanc from the madman of McLaren Vale, Brad Hickey!

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Sale price$35.00
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Description

Brash Higgins (AKA Brad Hickey) is at it again, dropping conventions and consonants all over the place.

He loves to make wines that challenge peoples perceptions, and if there is one white variety out there with a bad rap, it might be Aussie Chenin Blanc. But, this is not your run of the mill Chenin.

It is fermented in old oak after a few days on skins, then left to its own devices for 9 months before seeing a bottle. Hickey is trying to wring every ounce of character out of this fruit, and he's done a damn fine job.

Funked up and (as is standard issue for all the Brash wines) a little left of centre, this will charm the pants off a curious drinker.

Our eighth single vineyard Chenin Blanc at Brash Higgins from Willamba Hill. A relatively steep, south facing 34 year old vineyard in the Blewitt Springs sub region of McLaren Vale, it is overlaid with the deep white beach sands distinctive to Blewitt Springs. We attempt to capture the salinity and marine fossil notes from the sandy, coastal soils, thus transporting you to the oceanside with each whiff and taste. Blewitt Springs geology begins some 50 million years ago at the mouth of what is now Maslin Beach (Australia’s first unclad beach) and runs some 30km Eastward up to the foothills of the Adelaide Hills. The grapes are fermented wild in neutral French barriques for 12 months to help accentuate this maritime effect and to build texture. Only 175 cases of this dry, textural CHN Chenin Blanc were produced.

The CHN 2022 label is a detail from an oil on linen painting by the gifted Sydney artist, Alesandro Ljubicic, called “Try To Be A Rainbow To Someone’s Cloud” @alesandroljubicic

‘A pale straw in hue, the wine is heady with Chenin perfume of honey, straw, celery, real lemonade and water chestnut. Soft entry with trim acidity, the wine tightens as it flows across the tongue revealing a lick of saline and oyster shell. Good natural acidity with a delicate chalky, lemon pucker and notes of liquorice on the finish that pull you back for another look.’ – Brad Hickey, Vinitor, 09 September 2023.



Additional information
Harvest date: February 4, 2022
Vineyard: Willamba Hill Vineyard, Blewitt Springs
Grower: Dr. Grantly Gill
Viticulture: Sustainable
Geology: North Maslin Sands over ironstone/clay
Irrigation: Drip Irrigation
Altitude: 250 metres above sea level
Planted: 1990 on single cordon trellising
Days on skins: 2-3
Fermenter type: White Burgundy Barrel
Time in oak: 12 months
Oak origin: French
Oak age: 100% 6 year
Bottling date February 10, 2023
Closure: Stelvin +
100% Chenin Blanc
pH 3.49, TA 6.7 g/l, Alc 11.3%

175 cases

Customer Reviews

Brash Higgins

Brash Higgins is the label of winemaking American-turned-honorary-Aussie, Brad Hickey.

In his former life, Hickey was one of America's top sommeliers, working for many years crafting some of New York's finest wine lists. He came to Australia and fell in love with McLaren Vale and local vigneron Nicole Thorpe, with whom he now produces highly characterful, minimalist wines from their much loved Omensetter vineyard.

Hickey's wines are extremely expressive. They fall in two camps - the wines sourced from Omensetter vineyard and those sourced from friends around the Vale and the warm, dry Riverlands.

Brad Hickey AKA Brash Higgins - McLaren Vale, SA Brash Higgins

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