Colour: Bright, rich blend of luminous green and golden straw.
Nose: Fresh and complex with nuances of ripe pineapple, pawpaw and gooseberry. Extended lees contact has added some faint biscuit characters as well as touches of pre-baked sour dough.
Taste: The palate is different from what one would normally expect from a white wine. Its freshness at the end belies the rich, buttery complexity with which it starts off. With no easily identifiable single fruit characteristics up front, it is the subtlety and complexity of the wine which gives it its attractiveness initially, while its fresh, green apple flavours allow it to end off with a crisp, clean freshness which lingers well into the next sip.
Excellent served with Caesar salads, dishes served with mushroom sauce and rare beef burgers with rocket toppings.
in the vineyard : Background
Flanked by the Helderberg and Stellenbosch Mountains, 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 use of sulphur dioxide (sulphite) as a preservative in wine dates back centuries. Acting as both an anti-microbial agent and an anti-oxidant, it facilitates the consistent production of good wines and aids in their ability to keep for many years under the correct conditions. As sulphites occur naturally in wines as a product of the fermentation process, it is not possible to produce a "sulphite-free" wine. With healthy fruit, good equipment, perseverance and the utmost care, it is, however, possible to produce good wines without the addition of sulphites. While the risks are much greater during their production, the end result is entirely worthwhile, especially for those wine lovers who suffer from asthma or have allergic sensitivity to sulphites.
Vineyard and climate data
The grapes were sourced from a small, single vineyard planted in sandstone soils (classified as "Wasbank") in 1995 and with no definite slope. The entire vineyard comprises a mere 1.0 hectare with the vines all grafted onto nematode-resistant, Richter 99 rootstocks and trellised on a vertical five-wire hedge system. With the vineyard yielding a very low 5,8 tons per hectare, the quality of the fruit was perfect for the vinification of this wine. The 2009 vintage was characterised by relatively normal climatic conditions during the growing seasons, but with abnormally cool temperatures during January. Rainfall in the build-up to harvest was also very normal but with a supplementary irrigation needed during the final weeks of ripening in January.
Viticulturists: Eben Archer and Johan Mong
in the cellar : The grapes were harvested by hand on 12 March, destalked, gently crushed and cooled down to 12° C before being drained of its free-run juice. After an overnight setting period, the clear juice was transferred to a fermentation tank where fermentation took place with a selected yeast strain (Vin 7) for a period of 12 days at an average of 17° C. Malolactic fermentation occurred spontaneously during the post-fermentation aging period on the primary lees. The wine was matured in a stainless steel tank at ambient temperature in order to make full use of the lees autolysis which takes place under such conditions. After only a bentonite fining and no cold stabilisation, the full volume of only 3,118 bottles was bottled on 17 March 2010.