A rich and expressive nose with alluring fragrances and layers of green quince, apple pastille, pineapple, and notes of apple tart. The palate is ripe, concentrated, and characterful, brimming with gooseberry confit, spiced pears, and complex, textural lanolin notes. The finish is dry and powerful. Why the blending of terroirs? If you take the same Sauvignon Blanc clone and plant it in 5 different locations i. e Malmesbury/Stellenbosch/Elim/Durbanville/Grabouw, 5 years later the grape will taste completely different. That’s the beauty of blending terroirs. Ian’s hunt starts with finding where the grapes perform the best. he works with roughly 20 different farmers, buying anything from 1-5 tons of their grapes. Ripening and picking differs year on year and fermenting each vineyard on its own (always naturally) and then leaving it on the lees for as long as possible. Part of the Chenin Blanc and Semillon gets fermented in French oak Barrels to give it depth through the middle palate. Nothing is added, no additional chemicals (apart from sulfur at bottling) trying to keep them as natural as possible to allow them to age. Wines are left as long as possible on the lees because this is where Ian believes where the personality of the vineyard is shown. After a couple of months, the work starts – the blending and thus taking away the name of the vineyard or cultivar that can influence one, by blending to showcase the vintage of what was picked up in the vineyards. That is why the percentages of cultivars change from vintage to vintage. This wine is made to show the diversity of cultivars and terroirs in one bottle that only the Western Cape can produce.
Composition of Blend: 54% Chenin Blanc | 37% Semillon | 9% Sauvignon Blanc
ANALYSIS: Alc 13% | RS 1.6 | TA 5.8 | pH 3.4
