This is the third addition of the very successful Saboteur White Blend. 2017 was a challenging vintage in the sense that the lack of rainfall and almost drought conditions, resulted in a small Chenin Blanc crop. On the plus side, this resulted in smaller berry size and greater concentration in flavour.
The Chenin Blanc was fermented naturally on skins for a period of 6 to 18 days, depending on the particular batch of Chenin Blanc, The Viognier came in later and was fermented for 12 days on skins. The Blanc Fume portion was fermented in barrel and batonaged to get rid of as much Sauvignon Blanc characteristics as possible. All the components spent 6 months in old French Oak barrels. At no stage was anything added to this wine. We racked and made up the blend and the only time we added SO2 was to protect the wine for the bottling process.
The blend differs slightly this year. The final blend is 77% Chenin Blanc, 14% Viognier and 9% Blanc Fume. We feel that we are still achieving our goal which is to have a serious, well-structured yet refreshing white wine.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Pale straw with a hint of lime green.
Nose
White peaches, chalky, litchi, cinnamon spice and citrus blossom.
Palate
Citrus bon-bons with a textured mid pallet of ripe green plums and naartjie life savers with a long, balanced finish.
Grapes were sourced from three vineyard sites
Bot River, Barton Chenin Blanc harvested 13th & 28th February 2017
Bot River, Wildekrans Chenin Blanc harvested on 28th February 2017
Overberg, Villiersdorp Cellars harvested on 3" March 2017
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
21.2° Balling, TA — 6.6 g/l, pH — 3.4
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.9%
pH: 3.51
TA: 5.4 g/l
RS: 2.2 g/l
16 890 bottles of this vintage were produced.
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