20

19

Sauvignon blanc

Made reductively in order to maximize the fruit personality of the vintage, while maintaining the typical Southern Right balance of Old World minerality and length with hints of New World palate coverage and body. The 2019 is a wine that favours origin expressive individuality, minerality and palate complexity ahead of pure, pungent varietal aroma. A significant percentage of fruit from clay-rich soil has added an intense mid-palate structural component and additional overall complexity to this wine.

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Latest vintage available online via Port2Port.

  • Soil  Clay-rich shale-derived soil 52% Table Mountain Sandstone-derived soil 48%

 

  • Alcohol 13.83%
  • Acid 6.58 g/l
  • pH 3.39
  • Residual Sugar 2.10 g/l

 

  • Barrel Maturation  4% Barrel fermented in neutral barrels

 

  • Yield 25.9 hl/ha, 4.1 t/ha
  • Production 9 083 x 12 cases

 

  • Fruit Origin Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 1% Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 32%  Walker Bay 67%

 

  • Vegan Friendly

 

  • Release Date November 2019
Growing Season

Exceptional quality and record low yields characterise 2019, our 25th vintage of a single Pinotage and a single Sauvignon blanc. Sauvignon blanc yields were 52% down and Pinotage yields were 65% down. And the Sauvignon blanc ripened a little unevenly and unusually early. The Pinotage was particularly concentrated without being too dense or heavy. The Sauvignon blanc has a beautiful vinosity and saline minerality and true to Southern Right is not too fruit-driven.

 

Overall the vintage was a cooler than 2017 and even 2018, with an average maximum temperature for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar of 24.5 Centigrade (versus an equivalent long term average for Burgundy of 24.8 Centigrade). Rainfall was lower than average for Spring and during harvest, but occurred in frequent small amounts causing sustained high humidity. Fortunately our organic treatments proved highly effective against the resulting downy and powdery mildew threat. And the day after harvest finished, the serious rains began – some luck at least! We had the highest March rainfall in 21 years. Record low production and some challenges, but the 2019’s have a deep, concentrated, refined beauty.

91 Points - Tim Atkin

91 Points - Neal Martin, Vinous

90 Points - Aleks Zecevic, Wine Spectator

Number 59 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2020

One of Wine Spectator’s 8 South African Values for $18 or Less

91 Neal Martin, Vinous

"…...good weight and a tangy, marmalade-tinged finish whose residual salinity beckons you back for more. Excellent."

90 Aleks Zecevic, Wine Spectator

"This displays intensity and precision, with notes of fleur de sel and sage underscoring grapefruit and white peach flavors. Shows a bit of crunch in texture. Long, inviting and quite balanced."

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