Elgin Highlands Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc

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The grapes were hand-picked and whole bunch pressed. The juice was settled for 12 hours before being racked to 500L French oak barrels (2nd, 3rd and 4th fill). Fermentation was spontaneous and the temperature was kept between 18-22°C. The wine was aged for 11 months in barrel, before it was racked and blended in stainless steel tanks.

The 2021 vintage experienced a typical cold Elgin winter, with snow on the high mountain peaks and high winter rainfall, after 5 years of very dry and unusually warm winter conditions. This enabled good vine dormancy. Bud break took place in ideal warm and sunny conditions. The impact of below than average winter rains in the previous years and windy conditions during October and November resulted in very uneven flowering. As a result, berry set was uneven leading to smaller berries that have good concentration of flavours. Cool weather conditions during December and January slowed down ripening. The 2021 vintage was characterised by late rainfall and increased the risk of disease. Sorting was again crucial this year and the fruit that remained shows wonderful intensity and fruit concentration. The late rain helped nourish the soils and more importantly, helped the vine focus on grape ripening rather than foliage growth, resulting in concentrated berries with low pH and lower sugar levels. The net result of the later vintage and very cool weather conditions in 2021, is that the grapes had high natural acidity, achieved steady phenolic ripeness and plenty of intense and concentrated fruit flavours.

The wine aged for a further 3 months in tank and was clarified and stabilised naturally and lightly filtered before being bottled.