“The grape is not being celebrated here,” Carla said. “These have veered into a drink, rather than a wine.”

Perhaps the vintage was the problem. Of our 20 wines, 13 were from 2010, which by most accounts was difficult. Four more were from 2011, which was difficult as well, while three were from 2009, often termed a dream vintage.

Still, even in poor vintages, good producers can generally make interesting wines. And the vintage doesn’t explain why the 2009 F.M.C. from Ken Forrester, one of the leading names in South African chenin blanc, seemed so sweet, oaky, unbalanced and fatiguing. It did not make our top 10, although it was by far the most expensive wine in the tasting at $75.

Most of the wines were much cheaper, with 13 for $15 or less, and 4 more up to $19. While this is good in theory, might it also indicate that many South African growers don’t take chenin blanc very seriously? Many of the wines tasted that way.

Even so, we found some wines that we liked quite a bit, like our No. 1 bottle, the 2010 Secateurs from Badenhorst Family Wines in Swartland, which was full bodied yet well shaped and distinctly chenin blanc. Though it was not the cheapest among our top 10, it was our best value at $16 because we liked it so much better.

Our other favorite, the 2010 Mullineux, was a different sort of wine, enjoyable now but intended for aging. It was only 80 percent chenin blanc, with 10 percent each of clairette and viognier, and while the exuberant fruitiness of the viognier was apparent, so was the structure and the essence of chenin blanc. At $31, it was the most expensive wine among our top 10, but also the only one that seemed to have a real sense of place.

Many of the other wines on our list seemed somewhat interchangeable, though we preferred the 2010 La Capra from Fairview and the 2011 Man Vintners to the other two-star wines.