Stellenzicht Semillon Reserve 2008

Name: Stellenzicht Semillon Reserve 2008
Brand: Stellenzicht
SKU: 27615

Colour: Straw yellow with green tinges.
Bouquet: Lime and grapefruit with nuts, honey and vanilla whiffs in the background.
Taste: Rich and round with honey and fresh citrus followed by a creamy, buttery aftertaste.

Recommended pairings include rich seafood, poultry and summer salads. It loves anything smoked (especially fish and poultry) and handles any creamy sauces well.

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variety : Semillon [ 100% Semillon ]

winery : Stellenzicht Vineyards

winemaker : Guy Webber with Samantha de Morney-Hughes

wine of origin : Stellenbosch

analysis : alc : 13.58 % vol rs : 2 g/l pH : 3.29 ta : 6.1 g/l

type : White style : Dry wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

ageing : While the wine should keep fresh for a while longer, it is expected to reach its full potential at an age of around 4 to 5 years.

in the vineyard : Background
Flanked by the Helderberg and Stellenbosch Mountain, between Stellenbosch and the False Bay coast, lies an exceptional tract of land that benefits from terroirs eminently suited to the cultivation of the highest quality wine grapes. This jewel in the crown of the magnificent Stellenbosch wine-growing region is known as the Golden Triangle. At its core lies Stellenzicht.

The award-winning Stellenzicht range reserves its Golden Triangle label for those wines which most eloquently demonstrate the unique terroir of this special part of the Helderberg, home to some of South Africa's most exceptional wines.

Vineyard Location
The vines bearing the fruit from which this wine is crafted grow in decomposed granite at an altitude of 290m and on a slope facing predominantly south-west. The vines, grafted onto nematode-resistant Richter 99 rootstocks and trellised on a five-wire system, received supplementary irrigation via a drip system. The vineyards yielded a very low 3,22 tons per hectare in a vintage characterised as slightly warmer than the norm.

Viticulturists: Eben Archer

about the harvest: The grapes were harvested by hand at 23,2° Balling.

in the cellar : After destalking and crushing, the mash was transferred to closed stainless steel tanks where fermentation was induced by the addition of a selected yeast strain. Once fermentation was strongly underway, the must was transferred to barrels for the completion of the fermentation as well as for maturation on the lees.

Malolactic fermentation was induced to add complexity to the wine although it was not allowed to reach completeness in order to retain some of the fresh natural acidity.

With bi-weekly batonage to extract the full benefit of the lees, the wine matured in barrel for 12 months before being prepared for bottling.

The barrels comprised 50% new French and Hungarian oak (500L) with the remaining 50% being second-fill (300L) barrels used for the same wine the previous vintage.

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