Nothing excites me more than trying a wine from a new country. Currently wine is produced in more than 70 countries around the world, but one that surprised me was Tanzania in Africa.
When traveling in Africa, the most common wine to be served is from South Africa. This makes sense because they make incredible wine in South Africa — I have visited there twice for wine conferences and tours.
However, there are other countries in Africa that do produce wine, and one is Tanzania. This is because there are high mountains (think Mt. Kilimanjaro) in Tanzania, and also nearby Kenya, with cooler climates in the foothills that can allow for grapevine cultivation.
I spent over a week in Kenya on safari and every resort and restaurant I visited, I asked for Kenyan wine, but no one stocked it — even though there are more wineries in Kenya than Tanzania.
That is why I was so delighted to find a delicious Tanzanian wine on a Precision Airlines flight from Nairobi to Zanzibar (which is an island that is part of Tanzania with some of the most incredibly beautiful white sand beaches in the world).
I was also delighted with the conversation I had with the steward about the wine. It went like this:
“What beverage would you like?”
“White wine,” I said.
“Sweet or dry,” she asked? How cool is that!!! And such an important question. I love the fact that they have both sweet and dry on the airplane to serve to customers, because research shows that more than 30% of people prefer sweet wines.
“Dry,” I responded.
The glass of white wine I received was a bone dry chenin blanc with crisp apple, white peach and a hint of crisp passion fruit on the finish. I can only assume that the sweet one is a version of this, but not fermented to dryness, so there is more honey and ripe peach notes shining through.
“Is this wine from South Africa?” I asked.
“No,” she said proudly. “It is from Tanzania.”
I was so pleased at the pride in her voice. And so, of course, I asked to take a picture of the bottle.
Chenin Blanc White Wine Made by Cetawico Winery in Tanzania
After some research, I was able to track down the delicious dry white Chenin Blanc wine I had on the airplane. It was made by Cetawico Winery located at 3300 elevation on a plateau in Tanzania, approximately 700Km south of the equator. The winery was established in 2005 by a collaboration between Italian winemakers and local Tanzanian workers. What is especially impressive is that the vineyards are organic, and so the wine is made from organically grown grapes.
The vines are trained on a guyot trellis system, and they actually harvest twice a year because it is so warm, yielding around 2000kg of grapes per hectare. Winemaking includes destemming and crushing the grapes, a short maceration at a low temperature, and then fermentation of the purified must at a temperature of 16-18°C. It is then aged in stainless steel tanks for 6 months, and then rests in bottle another 2 months before selling. The resulting wine is 12% alcohol, 2.7 gm/litre residual sugar, 6.5 gm/litre total acidity, and truly delicious. Pairs well with fruit, grilled veggies, seafood, poultry, and creamy cheeses.
In the end, I can only say “Bravo Tanzania,” and thank you for such a cool wine experience!
Keep up the great work, and remember to enjoy wine in moderation. Cheers!
