It’s Really All About the Vineyard
At Waterkloof, we use regenerative farming methods to ensure that the vines are nourished and in balance. When driving into the farm one can see the cows and goats, which we use for their manure as well as weed control. Our soils are free of chemicals and are kept healthy by using plant extracts, fungi and bacteria from our own, natural compost. Healthier soils mean vines with roots digging deeper than 5 meters, truly expressing the terroir.
These traditional methods, combined with a southwest-facing, windy vineyard site ensure a balanced and naturally low yielding vine that produces intense flavours. The vineyards are about 5 kilometers from the sea and are planted at a height of between 270 and 300 meters above sea level. The soils are of sandstone origin with medium-sized stones, helping with drainage and also with moisture retention. The vineyards are an average age of 19 years.
A Gentle Hand
The winemaking philosophy is the same for all of Waterkloof’s premium white wines. We follow a traditional, minimalistic approach which means that we interfere as little as possible with the winemaking process. This allows the flavours prevalent in that specific vineyard to be expressed in the wine. To achieve this, all grapes are harvested on taste, picked by hand, sorted by hand and finally whole-bunch pressed in our modern basket press, so that we extract the purest juice in the gentlest way. The juice is then settled naturally for 24 hours. The wild yeast, naturally present on the grapes, are employed to ferment the juice in old 600litre barrels. This leads to a longer fermentation process with a slow release of aromas and a more structured palate. The natural fermentation process took 4 months to complete, after which the wine was left on the gross less until bottling more than 8 months later. We do not add any acid or enzymes during the winemaking process, with only a light filtration and a small addition of sulphur added as a preservative prior to bottling.
And A Few Prayers To Mother Nature- 2023/2024 Growing Season
We were happy with excellent Winter conditions during 2023 season -receiving over 1000 mm of rain in 2023 but also saw extreme flooding during this period. The Winter days and nights were nice and cool to ensure that the vines were able to go into a proper dormancy. The dams were replenished and the groundwater reserves looked good.
Once Spring came along it was accompanied by strong winds and consistently warmer days. Véraison was also about 10 days earlier than in 2022. The strong winds affected fruit-set as well as the vineyard canopies and we could see that the vines were stressed.
We started picking our earlier blocks at around the 3rd week of January. From the beginning of February the temperatures normalised and we only finished picking during the first week of March.
We saw a lot of bunches on the vines but the berries were tiny. With these tiny berries comes lovely concentration and bright acids. This vintage is definitely smaller but it is packed full of flavour.
A Tasting Note from The Glass of Nadia Langenegger
Sauvignon Blanc is a versatile grape that shows distinct terroir characteristics. In this wine, the Schapenberg comes through, showing fresh lime, stone fruit and gooseberries notes and complimented by hints of minerality. The palate is refined and lingers well. I enjoy this wine on its own and it also pairs perfectly with prawns on the grill- drizzled with butter and lime.
The Numbers (22 000 bottles produced)
Alc:13.5 %
RS: 3 g/l
TA: 6 g/l
pH: 3.21