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Circumstance Viognier 2010

Restrained, with delicate lemon and peach flavours. Flavours carry through on luscious palate with a long, lingering finish.

variety : Viognier [ 100% Viognier ]
winery : Waterkloof
winemaker : Werner Engelbrecht
wine of origin : Western Cape
analysis : alc : 13.5 % vol  rs : 3.24 g/l  pH : 3.34  ta : 4.7 g/l  va : 0.69 g/l  
type : White  style : Dry  body : Medium  taste : Mineral   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 0  closure : Cork  
in the vineyard : Vineyards
Circumstance Viognier is produced from the windswept, low-yielding slopes of Schapenberg Hill. Strong winds churn up the vineyards regularly. This allows for low production and intense flavours. The vineyards are about 5 kilometres from the sea, and are planted at a height of between 270 and 300 meters above sea level. The soils are of sandstone origin, with medium-sized stones, helping with drainage and also providing a very good ability to retain moisture. The vineyards are an average age of 8 years. Production was approximately 2 t/ha.

2009/10 Growing Season
After a very cool 2008/09 growing season, the 2009/10 vintage was one of the most difficult in years. Strong winds of up to 120 km/h and rain storms at the end of October were some of the climatic factors we had to battle with during spring. The wind created havoc right through the season, blowing off shoots and reducing the yield significantly. Cool weather prevailed through spring and into late February 2010, and had a positive influence on grape quality.
about the harvest: 

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 themselves. 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, after which it is racked from the settling tank into 600 litre barrels. The naturally-occurring yeast or “wild yeast” was allowed to start the fermentation and took 12 months to complete. It was matured for a further 2 months in barrel, after which it was racked. Only a light filtration was used prior to bottling.
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OTHER VINTAGES

Circumstance Viognier 2010
Viognier
Circumstance Viognier 2008
Viognier