Dicey Bannockburn Chenin Blanc 2024 is an unusual find: chenin blanc grown in Central Otago's Bannockburn sub-region, a corner of New Zealand better known for pinot noir and riesling. Bannockburn's warm, dry ripening season suits the variety, giving a wine with real fruit presence and drive, more textural than the crisp, everyday styles chenin is often made in.

The nose runs to quince, green apple and a touch of beeswax, chenin's usual calling cards. On the palate that fruit turns riper — baked apple and a little stone fruit — with a lanolin texture starting to show underneath.

Chenin's natural acidity keeps all of that fruit honest, running long and bright through a dry, textured finish that lingers on citrus pith rather than sweetness.

It is a genuinely versatile food wine: try it with roast chicken, a creamy pasta, or soft washed-rind cheese, where the acidity and texture both have work to do.

This is a young wine built to open up over the next three to five years as the waxy, honeyed side of chenin comes forward.