KWV The Mentors Semillon 2008

This elegant and varietally expressive wine has upfront mineral and flint characters, complemented by lime, peach, asparagus and grapefruit flavours. The finish is soft and smooth and delivers a creamy texture on the palate.

Serve this flavourful wine with delicate white meat, duck or light meat dishes.

variety : Semillon [ 100% Semillon ]

winery : The Mentors

winemaker : The Winemaking Team

wine of origin : Western Cape

analysis : alc : 13.3 % vol rs : 2.02 g/l pH : 3.47 ta : 5.93 g/l

type : White wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

Veritas Wine Awards 2013 - Gold
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2012 - Bronze

ageing : This wine will continue to mature in the bottle for the next 5 - 10 years and produce a complex and stylish, bottle aged Sémillon.

in the vineyard : Vineyards
The grapes for this wine were sourced from a selected group of vineyards planted on the alluvial plain where the Olifants River flows into the cold Atlantic Ocean (±300 km north of Cape Town). This area of land along the Atlantic Ocean is very exposed to cool on-shore breezes that blow like clockwork every day from around noon. The combination of the Sémillon grape, the alluvial soil and cool climate makes for the production of a terroir : varietal reflective wine.

Treatment in The Vineyard
Meticulous vineyard management of the trellised vines ensured fruit of outstanding quality that is expressive of both the Sémillon cultivar and the terroir. Vines are spur-pruned, suckered and shoots positioned within the foliage wires on a regular basis (VSP). Due to the dry climate, the incidence of disease is almost unheard of and as such the vineyards are almost never sprayed.

Vintage Conditions
2008 has been an excellent vintage for both red and white wines and wines will continue to develop to their full cellaring potential.

about the harvest: Cool, wet weather during the 2007 winter and excessive rain in the first two months of 2008 led to a later than usual start to the 2008 harvest. This resulted in slow ripening conditions with small berries, concentrated flavours and slow sugar and flavour development. This also led to an ideal distribution between red and white grapes being harvested.

Yield: 8t/ha

Harvest Date: Late February to early March 2008

Balling at Harvesting: 24° Balling

in the cellar : Winemaking
Grapes were hand picked in the vineyards and only individually selected bunches were harvested at maximum flavour intensity. The grapes were then hand sorted in the small KWV The Mentors cellar, with only the best grapes progressing. After 2 hours of skin contact the juice was settled for 48 hours, clean juice racked off, inoculated with yeast and fermented at 12° -15° C for a duration of 21 days. Sensory and sugar checks were completed on average twice a day during fermentation. The wine was left on the lees for 6 weeks with 7 day interval batonage before being racked for filtration and bottling.

Maturation: 2 months bottle maturation.

Total Production: 2 500 litres.

Bottling Date: April 2009.

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