Description
There’s a light herbal quality to tell you the variety but not to shout. Then there’s a touch of mealy creaminess. Outstanding balance on the palate between herby citrus fruit, lemon purity and the chalky yet rounded texture of the two fermentation styles. Mouth-watering finish with the fruit full charge at the end. VGV compared with, say, a top white bordeaux. 17.5 Julia Harding MW
It wasn’t easy to make world class Sauvignon Blancs in a vintage like 2018, but Sam O’Keefe managed it with some style. This is an equal blend of grapes from Greyton and Walker Bay with fermentation in concrete eggs and 500-litre wood, showing notes of kelp and rock pools, with stylish gunflint and grapefruit overtones. 2019-25 95/100 Tim Atkin MW
Vintage
The 2017 vintage saw hot, dry weather conditions throughout the vintage, which helped to reduce disease pressure. However the cooler nights helped to lengthen the ripening period and retain balancing acidity. The vines were healthy and produced smaller yields of concentrated berries delivering excellent varietal
characteristics.
Vineyard
The Overberg region is rapidly earning a reputation for premium, cool climate grapes. Lismore’s 12.5 hectare vineyard is planted at 300 metres above sea level, in the foothills of the Sonderend Mountain Range. The soils are made up of deep, decomposed shale. The aspect which faces away from the afternoon sun, combined with a generally low mean February temperature, allows an extended ripening period that can result in a harvest three to four weeks later than traditional
wine growing regions in South Africa. Sauvignon Blanc is a variety that expresses a very distinct and specific sense of place or ‘terroir’. The distinct minerality of this Sauvignon Blanc is a clear indication of the cool climate in which it is grown.
Winemaking
The wine was made in an ‘oxidative’ style. The must was barrel-fermented in older 300 litre barrels to bring forward richness and additional complexity. The wine was given extended less contact with occasional bâtonnage, to contribute further to the rounder mouth feel and creaminess of this elegantly textured wine. The wine was aged for nine months. The bracing acidity that is customary in New World Sauvignon Blancs has been brought into balance with a carefully chosen pick date and the barrel fermentation, creating a full-bodied, balanced wine.
Alcohol: 13.5%
RS: 3.9
