Stellenzicht Semillon Reserve 2002

Diners Club 2003 - 1 out of 10 Winemakers Nominated
The colour shows the golden straw hues typical of this style of wine, but with a distinct, limey greenness. On the nose, fresh floral lime aromas are backed up by underlying nuances of toasted oak and lanolin. Big on flavour and structure, the palate underscores the wines inherent quality as it finishes with superb elegance and gentle fullness.

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variety : Semillon [ 100% Semillon ]

winery : Stellenzicht Vineyards

winemaker : Guy Webber

wine of origin : Coastal

analysis : alc : 14.89 % vol rs : 1.9 g/l pH : 3.36 ta : 5.7 g/l va : 0.39 g/l so2 : 121 mg/l fso2 : 52 mg/l

type : White wooded

pack : Bottle

AWARDS

Diners Club 2003 - 1 out of 10 Winemakers Nominated

ageing : The fullness of the wine, combined with its good acid balance, indicates good maturation potential and the wine should develop well to ages of five- to eight-years.

Vintnerâ€™s Advice
SÃ©millon is the ultimate food wine. It can match weighty fish and seafood dishes like sole meuniÃ©re, trout with almonds, and deep-fried calamari. It is a most suitable partner to a wide range of flavourful dishes created from veal, poultry and smoked meat. Delicious with tuna or nicoise salads or a bowl of mixed greens dressed with a combination of SÃ©millon (instead of vinegar) and walnut oil. Serve chilled to around 14 degrees Celsius.

in the vineyard : At ages of between five and fourteen years old, the vineyards from which the fruit were selected in crafting this wine are grown in decomposed granite at altitudes ranging between 230 - and 290 â€“ metres above sea level on a south-westerly slope. The vines are all grafted onto nematode-resistant Richter 99 and 110 rootstocks and are trellised onto five-wire fence-type trellises. Winter pruning was to two spurs and the vineyards yielded an average of 2.94 tonnes per hectare. One supplementary irrigation was give during the growing season in order to prevent excessive moisture stress in the vines.

about the harvest: The grapes were hand-picked on 26 and 27 February, destalked and lightly crushed in order to allow the juice to run free.

in the cellar : The juice was then slowly drained under gravity before being allowed to settle overnight at a temperature of around 12 degrees Celsius. The average sugar content of the grapes at harvest was 24.4 degrees Balling with good acids and pHâ€™s of 6.4 g/l and 3,4 respectively.
The clear juice was inoculated with pure, Vin 7 and Vin 13 yeast strains and allowed to begin fermentation in stainless steel. After 5 degrees Balling had fermented out, most of the must was transferred to a combination of new- and second fill â€“barriques in which the alcoholic fermentation was completed. Malolactic fermentation was then induced and allowed to continue until it naturally stopped without having completed.
With bi-weekly â€œbatonageâ€, the wine was then matured on its primary fermentation lees for nine months before being readied for the bottle. A total of 1027 cases were bottled on 21 February 2003.

Wooding
Barrels used in the maturation of the wine were as follows:
Â· 85% New 300 litre barrels of which 90% were French Oak and 10% Hungarian Oak
Â· 15% Second-fill 300 litre barrels of which 50% were French Oak and 50% American Oak.
Â· 15% Unwooded component was blended in to enhance the natural fruit flavours.

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