Aroma and Palate: The predominance of the Sémillon in this blend opens with floral notes – honeysuckle, citrus blossom, and violets, while elegant fruity notes of white pear and green apple follow. The Sauvignon Blanc component enhances the blend with aromas of freshly cut grass, grapefruit, guava, and Cape Gooseberry. Fresh and zesty acidity with a textured and a creamy finish.
Oak: 70% of the wine was aged in 500L French Oak Barrels (50% New Oak).
Ageing potential: Enjoyable fresh now or age up to 10 years after harvest.
Food Pairing: Creamy seafood dishes and oily fish dishes.
Terroir:
The Sémillon grapes hail from a Vineyard high up in the hills behind Sir Lowry’s Village, planted on Sandstone. The Sauvignon Blanc grapes hail from 2 separate sites in the Bottelary Hills. There are 2 Bottelary Hills vineyard sites, one located right at the top ridge of the Bottelary Hills and the other on a lower South-west facing slope. Both Bottelary sites are planted on shale with extremely high rock content, providing good drainage.
Both the Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc sites benefit from cooling Ocean influences providing a longer ripening period for optimum flavour development.
Vinification:
The grapes were hand harvested in small crates in the early hours of the morning to keep the grapes cool and preserve fresh flavours. Grapes are cooled further overnight in our on-site cold room (3°C) and processed the following day. Bunch and berry sorting is practiced, making sure only the best grapes are used. The grapes are softly rolled off the stems, preventing the extraction of unwanted harsh phenolics.
The Grapes are transferred to our inert Nitrogen press where it cold soaks overnight and the juice is pressed off the next morning. Settling takes place over 2 days and the clear juice is racked off to a stainless-steel tank for inception of primary fermentation.
A portion of each block is fermented in stainless steel and the other in 500L French Oak Barrels. The wines were racked and returned once during the ageing period. Each block is kept separate during the vinification and ageing process and final blending takes place just before bottling.
