Description

Winemaking Practice:

The grapes were hand-picked from cool slopes on our farm in Stellenbosch. Sauvignon Blanc is best expressed when planted in cool microclimates to protect those fragile flavours associated with the grape. Grapes were picked in the cool of the morning and on arrival at the cellar, were immediately destemmed and crushed and spent up to eight hours in a refrigerated tank where they were cooled down further prior to being processed. A gentle pressing program followed where only the free run juice was collected and pumped to a tank for overnight cooling and settling. Throughout the whole process the product was handled reductively to protect the juice from oxidation and loss of aroma. Selected cultured yeast was used in combination for enhanced complexity and flavour spectrum. After the completion of alcoholic fermentation, the wine was kept on the lees and mixed weekly. Healthy lees have been described as the mother of the wine and with regular mixing of the tanks, better structure and complexity were achieved. The wine spent 7 months on the lees, before being blended, given a light fining , cold stabilised, filtered and then bottled.