Saboteur 2023 White Blend
As the Luddite Saboteur White gains more following, we continue to grow this wine always keeping quality in mind. So, with this said, this is the first vintage where we sourced fruit from Standford which still keeps the wine to the Cape South Coast region. Very tricky harvest as it rained heavily but luckily, we picked early for freshness and acidity, therefore missing the rain.
We continue to have skin contact on the Chenin and Viognier to give some tannin, texture and structure to the wine. Both varietals spent 12 days on skins with morning and evening punch-downs. We then pressed, taking as much lees and sediment to barrel to complete the fermentation. We also did a small portion of tank fermentation Chenin Blanc for extra primary fruit. The Sauvignon Blanc is whole-bunch pressed and pumped directly to barrel without settling to ferment. All the components spent 7 months in old French Oak barrels with regular batonnage.
We racked and blended the 3 components, always having food and drinkability in mind. The 2023 blend is 77% Chenin Blanc, 13% Blanc Fumé and 10% Viognier. We hope that we have continued to achieve our goal which is to have a serious, well-structured yet refreshingly fruity white wine.
Grapes were sourced from four vineyard sites:
Bot River, Barton Chenin Blanc harvested 9th February 2023
Bot River, Gabriëlskloof Viognier harvested 9th February 2023
Standford, Standford Hills Chenin Blanc harvested 15th February 2023
Elgin, Elgin Ridge Sauvignon Blanc harvested 28th February 2023
Average analysis of fruit at harvest
22.0° Balling, TA – 6.8 g/l, pH – 3.36
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Pale straw in colour.
Nose: Pronounced nose with floral sweet fruit, honey, peach and almonds.
Palate: Rich mouthfeel with subtle tannins and pithiness from skin contact. White peach, honey blossoms with a salty and herbaceous finish.
Analysis of the wine
Alcohol: 12.5% pH: 3.46 TA: 5.95 g/l RS: 1.6 g/l
20 300 bottles of this vintage were produced (crown cap & 515 magnums)
Tasting notes dated 11th Sep 2023.
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