KWV The Mentors Viognier 2011

The nose delivers upfront, varietal expressive characters, such as green figs, musk, peach and orange blossom aromas. The palate delivers flavours such as lemon, grapefruit and apricot, with a touch of marzipan and nougat on the finish. Whilst our 2011 Viognier is a more elegant style it demonstrates great finesse and structure.

Enjoy on its own or with chilli-garlic calamari or spicy Thai chicken or Asian dishes.

variety : Viognier [ 100% Viognier ]

winery : The Mentors

winemaker : The Winemaking Team

wine of origin : Elgin

analysis : alc : 13.50 % vol rs : 3.50 g/l pH : 3.06 ta : 6.82 g/l

type : White body : Full taste : Herbaceous wooded

pack : Bottle size : 0 closure : Cork

AWARDS

Veritas Wine Awards 2013 - Bronze
Veritas Wine Awards 2012 - Bronze
Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2012: Viognier 2011 - Bronze
Decanter World Wine Awards 2012: Viognier 2011 - Bronze
Winemaker's Choice Award 2010: Viognier 2009 - Diamond Award

ageing : Ready to enjoy now, but will continue to develop and mature over the next 3 – 5 years.

in the vineyard : Treatment in the Vineyard
The vines are spur pruned and canopy management actions aim to achieve an open, balanced vine canopy that allows sufficient air movement and light penetration. We aim to achieve vine balance (i.e. crop to foliage ratio) rather through site, rootstock and cultivar selection thus negating the need for excessive vineyard interventions. Irrigation is only given on a supplementary basis and as such the soil moisture levels are monitored to minimize any unnecessary irrigation. Ripening was carefully monitored as flavour development is normally only achieved at fairly high sugar levels. Collaboration between viticulturist and winemaker ensured that the grapes were picked at the optimum point.

Vintage Conditions
The 2011 growing season will be remembered for its erratic weather changes, which posed several challenges to winemakers and viticulturist alike. A cold, but late 2010 winter preceded the growing season, providing much needed rest to the vineyards. The harvest season was characterized by a warm summer and along with the lower than average rainfall this resulted in lower yield, smaller bunches and consequently riper flavours. Grape quality in general was superb, with the season delivering optimally ripe, healthy grapes, with great concentration.

about the harvest:

Balling at Harvest: 24.6°

Harvest Date: March

Yield: 8t/ha

in the cellar : The name of the game when crafting the perfect Viognier is patience, with nerves of steel. Frequent tasting and consultation between the viticulturist and the winemaker resulted in the grapes being harvested at the optimum time. Working with Viognier is a challenge from year to year, as this grape variety is unpredictable. Crafting the Viognier grape into a wine of this nature is truly a work of art.

Winemaking
The grapes were destemmed and pressed, but only the free run juice was used to make this wine. After settling, the wine was inoculated with specially selected yeast, known for its aromatic capabilities as well as its slow, steady fermentation rate to enhance fruit flavours. Half way through fermentation, 60% of the wine was moved to barrels, where it completed alcoholic fermentation. The remaining 40% tank fermented wine was added to the blend to enhance freshness and complexity. The barrels add dimension and fullness to the wine, without diminishing the abundance of fruit. The wine was left on lees for 60 days. In the first 30 days of lees contact, the wine was stirred 3 times a week, thereafter it was done only twice a week. The wine was then racked, blended, filtered and bottled.

Maturation: 8 months in second and third fill French oak barrels. A combination of 300 and 500 litre barrels was used.

Total Production: 2 800 bottles

Bottling Date: December 2011

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