Full-bodied wine with powerful varietal flavours of pineapple, granadilla, melon and green apple. Good structure with a lovely balancing acidity.
Enjoy now with seafood, smoked salmon, roast chicken and pork. Serve at 8º - 10ºC.
variety : Sauvignon Blanc [ 100% Sauvignon Blanc ]
winemaker : Francois Weich
wine of origin : Robertson
analysis : alc : 12.8 % vol rs : 1.3 g/l pH : 3.30 ta : 6.3 g/l
type : White style : Dry body : Full taste : Fruity
pack : Bottle
in the vineyard : Incredibly healthy grapes of excellent quality to produce outstanding wines – This is how the 2006 vintage will be remembered.
Again the season started with very little winter rainfall in Robertson, but this time around, enough rain fell in the Brandvleidam catchment area to ensure sufficient water supply.
Early and even budbreak occurred and due to lots of wind and cooler growing season only moderate vineyard vigour were achieved.
The prevailing strong wind induced stress on the grapevines which had a positive effect on wine quality, as it let to smaller, looser bunches with fewer, smaller and more concentrated berries. The 2006 crop was a little bigger than 2005, but is still smaller than an average crop. This is mainly due to the smaller, looser bunches with smaller berries.
Optimum ripeness was reached at lower sugar levels due to the cooler ripening period. Especially the night temperatures were lower than normal. This coupled with the smaller berries ensured excellent red wine colours and quality. It also impacted positively on white wine quality.
about the harvest: Fruit was harvested very early in the morning from the last week of February to the middle of March from 43 specially selected grape growers in the Robertson Valley. Our Sauvignon Blanc vines are planted in deep cool alluvial soils on the riverbanks with a row direction from North West to South East to utilize the prevailing sea breeze.
The sea breeze cools down the fruit, extends the ripening period and builds up concentrated flavours in the grapes. The average annual rainfall of 280 mm is supplemented by controlled drip irrigation from the Breede River. Sauvignon Blanc's early results are much better than last year. The effort and drive that we put behind all of this, gave a better result.
Grapes were harvested between 22º - 23º Balling from a selection of vineyards.
in the cellar : Gentle pressing followed by using a pneumatic bag press to capture the delicate fruit component. The wine was made reductively to prevent any oxidation and to ensure that natural flavours of the grapes could be retained. Fermentation happened slowly in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for 18 days at 12ºC.