Asara Sauvignon Blanc 2005

This is a wine that perfectly displays the terrain specific qualities of the Asara Estate Sauvignon vineyards. There are aromas of gooseberries, asparagus and green apple, which follow through to the palate, where you’ll find zesty bell pepper flavours and kiwi-fruit on the aftertaste. It finishes with crisp, rounded freshness. The wine shows at its best once it has been in the bottle for about 12 months; intense freshness gives way to complexity in green flavours and soft fruity notes.

While the wine is young it serves as an excellent aperitif, however, once the wine reaches its full potential at ca. 12 months of age, it becomes a good partner to summer greens, fresh asparagus and light seafood dishes.

variety : Sauvignon Blanc [ 100% Sauvignon Blanc ]

winery : Asara Wine Estate and Hotel

winemaker : Jan van Rooyen

wine of origin : Stellenbosch

analysis : alc : 13.5 % vol rs : 3.4 g/l pH : 3.4 ta : 7.6 g/l

type : White

pack : Bottle

AWARDS

Veritas Awards 2006 - Bronze
International Wine & Spirit Competition - Silver
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2006 - Silver Medal

ageing : Drink until the end of 2007.

in the vineyard : At Asara Estate, the Sauvignon Blanc vineyards grow on slopes facing False Bay, where cool Atlantic sea breezes and excellent canopy management create a superb basis to grow fine Sauvignon Blanc grapes. By employing a reductive winemaking technique the oxidation of sensitive flavours in the grape juice is prevented (refer to Harvest notes below). For this 2006 Asara Wine Estate Sauvignon we used grapes from two vineyards - the result is a quality wine yielding both tropical fruit and green flavours that are true to the variety.

Age: 9 years old
Clone: RY13
Rootstock: Richter 99
Trellising: Extended Double Perold
Plant Spacing: 1.2m by 2.6m
Soil Type: Tukulu Yellow Brown Gravel

about the harvest: We harvested the grapes for this wine from 2 vineyards on 2 different slopes on the estate. Hand picking took place on 2 and 13 February, in the early hours of the morning while the ambient temperatures in the vineyards were low.

The first grapes came in from site no B6 at 22º Balling with a total acid of 6.3 g/l and a pH of 3.3, the second batch from site no F13 at 22.8º Balling with an acidity of 6.9 g/l and 3.3 pH.

in the cellar : At the cellar the grapes were sulphited and covered with a blanket of carbon dioxide gas to prevent oxidation of the flavours (reductive method). Mashed grapes were cooled down to below 10º C and given 12 hours of skin contact. The use of these two methods results in optimum flavour extraction and adds structure to our Sauvignon.

Fermentation took place over two and a half weeks at 12 to 14ºCelsius. Four months of maturation in contact with the yeast lees ensured the development of the desired richness in flavour.

Estate bottled on 1 July 2005 after a bulk filtration.
Production was 8,058 x 750ml and 1,208 x 375ml bottles.
A second bottling of another 10,000 litres will take place at a later stage.

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