KWV The Mentors Semillon 2013

ageing : While this wine is enjoyable immediately, patient cellaring of five to ten years will definitely be rewarded.

The winter preceding the 2013 vintage was characterized by plenty of cold spells and good, saturating rains, which ensured strong, even budding and replenished soil moisture. With the arrival of spring, cool to moderate temperatures reduced vigour and encouraged higher quality in the grapes. Slower, consistent growth persisted through the early summer thanks to dryer conditions, which kept diseases at bay. The uncharacteristic, supplementary rainfall during mid to late summer raised soil moisture levels and slightly extended the vintage and ripening period. Overall, the season delivered fruit with concentration, structure and flavour.

Winemaker's comments:
The cool coastal altitude of Darling has a profound impact on the varietal definition and style of this wine. Limey, fine and elegant, but benefiting from 18 to 24 months of bottle age, this variety is ideally suited to Darling region. Whilst our 2013 Semillon can be enjoyed as a young fresh and lively wine, with bottle age it develops into a lovely, toasty wine with a rich creamy palate.

Grapes were hand-picked in the vineyards and only individually selected bunches were harvested at maximum flavour intensity. De-stemming and crushing was followed by two hours of skin contact. The juice was settled for 48 hours, racked and then inoculated with a specially selected yeast strain. A 20% portion of the wine was barrel fermented and matured for two months to add texture and complexity to the palate. The remaining component was fermented in tank at low temperatures to allow for maximum fruit and varietal expression. The wine was left on the lees for eight weeks and batonaged once a week before being racked.