VINEYARDS
Circumstance Sauvignon blanc is produced from windswept south west facing, low yielding slopes of Schapenberg. Strong winds churn up the vineyards with regularity. This allows for low production and intense flavors. The vineyards are 5 kilometres from the sea, and are planted at a height of between 270 and 300 metres above sea level. The soils are of sandstone origin with medium- sized stones, helping with drainage, while retaining the ability to hold moisture. The vineyards are an average age of 11 years. Production was approximately 4 t/ha.
THE 2007/08 GROWING SEASON
The winter provided much needed rain and cold weather and was followed by a cool, wet spring. The regular rains during spring and the early parts of the summer led to higher than normal disease pressure. We had to increase our spraying intervals in order to ensure that our vineyards stayed free from disease. Cloudy periods during flowering resulted in irregular set. Bunches were loose and the berries were small, which allowed for even veraison. The cool weather during spring followed through into the early parts of summer and allowed us to pick the whites during cool conditions.
WINEMAKING
The winemaking philosophy for all our premium white wines from Waterkloof is the same. We follow a traditional, minimalistic approach, which means that we interfere as little as possible with the winemaking process. It allows the flavours prevalent in that specific vineyard to express itself. To achieve this goal all grapes are whole bunch pressed to ensure that we extract the juice in the gentlest way. The juice is then allowed to settle for 24 hours. Yeast occurring on the grapes is allowed to ferment the juice; no yeasts are added. Fermentation takes place at temperatures of 18 to 20°C. After the completion of fermentation, the wine is left on the primary lees for a month. It is then racked and given a small sulphur addition before being aged on the fine lees for 8 months. 15% of the wine was fermented and aged in old 600 litre barrels to add more weight and complexity to the wine.
TASTING NOTES
On the nose the wine shows a combination of citrus and tropical flavours. The flavours follow through on palate which is very mineral with a long finish. The flavours and complexity will develop further towards mid 2009 as the wine ages in the bottle.
ANALYSIS
Alc: 14.0%
RS: 2.3g/l
TA: 6,7g/l
pH: 3.08
VA: 0.34
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