Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Name: Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Brand: Circumstance
SKU: 19019

On the nose the wine shows a combination of citrus and tropical flavours. The flavours follow through on palate which is very mineral with a long finish. The flavours and complexity will develop further towards mid 2009 as the wine age in bottle.

variety : Sauvignon Blanc [ 100% Sauvignon Blanc ]

winery : Waterkloof

winemaker : Werner Engelbrecht

wine of origin : Western Cape

analysis : alc : 14.0 % vol rs : 2.3 g/l pH : 3.08 ta : 6.7 g/l va : 0.34 g/l

type : White style : Dry taste : Mineral wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

in the vineyard : Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc is produced from windswept south-west facing, low yielding slopes of Schapenberg Hill. Strong winds churn up the vineyards with regularity. This allows for low production and intense flavors. The vineyards are about 4 kilometres from the sea, and are planted at a height of between 270 and 300 metres above sea level.

The soils are of sandstone origin with medium-sized stones, helping with drainage, but also a very good ability to retain moisture. The vineyards are an average age of 11 years. Production was approximately 6 t/ha.

2008 GROWING SEASON
A winter which provided much needed rain and cold weather was followed by a cool, wet spring. The regular rains during spring and the early parts of the summer did lead to higher than normal disease pressure. We had to increase our spraying intervals in order to insure that our vineyards stay free from disease. Cloudy periods during flowering resulted in irregular set. Bunches were lose and the berries small which allowed for an even veraison. The cool weather during spring followed through into the early parts of summer. It allowed us to pick the whites during cool conditions

in the cellar : The winemaking philosophy for all our premium white wines from Waterkloof is the same. We follow a traditional, minimalistic approach which means that we interfere as little as possible with the winemaking process. It allows the flavours prevalent in that specific vineyard to express itself.

To achieve this goal all grapes are whole bunch pressed to ensure that we extract the juice in the gentlest way. The juice is then allowed to settle for 24 hours. Yeast occurring on the grapes is allowed to ferment the juice. No yeasts are added.

Fermentation takes place at temperatures of 18 to 20 C. After the completion of fermentation, the wine is left on the primary lees for a month. It is then racked and given a small sulphur addition before being aged on the fine lees for 8 months. 15% of the wine was fermented and aged in old 600 litre barrels to add more weight and complexity to the wine.

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