De Grendel Viognier 2017

A brilliant pale straw colour belies a tantalisingly perfumed nose of sweet honeysuckle which supersedes creamy aromas of peach and apricot before zesty citrus and kiwi flavours burst onto the palate with lingering hints of almond and stone fruit in the finish.

One of the best food wines - paring wonderfully with seafood, poultry, pork, salads and young mild cheeses, but perhaps best enjoyed as a cold aperitif on a sweltering day.

variety : Viognier [ 100% Viognier ]
winery : De Grendel Wines
winemaker : Charles Hopkins & Elzette du Preez
wine of origin : Durbanville
analysis : alc : 14 % vol  rs : 1.8 g/l  pH : 3.44  ta : 5.9 g/l  
type : White  style : Dry  taste : Fruity  
pack : Bottle  size : 750ml  closure : Screwcap  

ageing : Crisp, fresh and ready to drink now - but would become slightly richer and creamier with up to 3 years of bottle age.

in the vineyard : High up on the western slope of the Tygerberg, roughly 200 metres above sea level, just 7 kilometres from, and in sight of the Atlantic Ocean, the Viognier vines are nourished by well drained blue broken shale soil with areas of gravel and sub layers of clay. Utilising the VSP trellis system, a typical harvest produces 7 - 8 tons per hectare.

A surprising, yet contradictory growing season coming off the back of the severe heat and drought of 2016, the 2017 vintage experienced consistently hot and dry weather, but no significant heat waves. The cold to moderate nights however, together with the much needed light rain in early December, resulted in disease free grapes of excellent concentration and acidity with an increase in crop yield of roughly 15% on the previous vintage.

in the cellar : Viognier berries begin to shrivel towards ripeness, a unique varietal characteristic that necessitates careful sampling and tasting before harvest to ensure balance and complexity of flavour is achieved in the wine. Handpicked bunches are destalked and crushed, with the juice settling before inoculation. The majority of the juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks in order to maintain its fresh varietal fruity characteristics, while the remaining 30% is fermented and then aged for 90 days in Romanian oak barrels for a creamier, complementary complexity before blending back into the tank portion for protein stabilisation, cold stabilisation and bottling.

find our wines in :

OTHER VINTAGES

Viognier
Viognier
Viognier