Lourensford Winemakers Selection Noble Late Harvest 2012

The wine has an alluring, bright gold colour with a beautiful, inviting nose filled with ripe tropical fruits along with peach, pear and a hint of nettle and greengage - all on a backdrop of botrytis. There is an intense concentration in the mouth with great balance of all components held together by a keen acidity. Fynbos honey hangs in the background all the while.

The intensity and richness of botrytized Semillon matches all eggy or cream based desserts, such as creme brulee or vanilla desserts. It also goes well with lemon or lime based puddings as well as good old fashioned bread and butter pudding. Baked cheesecake served with kumquat preserve is an especially good match.Don’t waste our prized Noble Late Harvest on intense chocolatey desserts.

variety : Semillon [ 100% Semillon ]
winemaker : Hannes Nel
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 11.5 % vol  rs : 177 g/l  pH : 3.52  ta : 7.9 g/l  
type : Dessert  style : Sweet  body : Full  taste : Fruity   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 375ml  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
2013 Michelangelo International Wine Awards of South African – Gold Medal

ageing : Noble Late Harvest wines has the highest extract of most wines. They are certainly the most complex and also have the longest shelf-life of the whole range of sweet wines. This vintage is super now but can mature up to 2018 and longer if cellared correctly. It will reach its best drinking potentiall possibly only towards the end of 2016.

in the vineyard : Age of vines: 12 years
Rootstock: 101-14 Mgt
Clones: GD121
Slopes: Situated on the valley floor
Row direction: South-North
Soil type: Sweetwater soil profile

about the harvest: A cool winter allowed vines to go into proper dormancy. We were expecting a very different scenario with the cool start to spring and early summer which we thought would delay the start of the harvest. Then, suddenly, the heat rose in early January and again in early February. However, for the most part, February and March were relatively mild, making for long, slow and very beneficial ripening. What also enhanced quality was the drop in night time temperatures that in some instances were 1.5 C to 2 C lower compared to the average for February. This helped fruit to retain aromas and flavours. The harvest date was the 10th of May 2012. This was the latest we ever harvested any grapes on Lourensford. The wine spent another month fermenting in stainless steel tanks.

in the cellar : Wood: A touch of wood

find our wines in :