Obscura White Blend

Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Viognier grapes were used for the Obscura white blend. The organically grown grapes were gently crushed and destalked into the Qvevri, two Qvevri per variety. No adjustments were made to the grapes (no added acidity, yeast or nutrients). Natural fermentation started sporadically 3-5 days after gentle crushing of the fruit. During fermentation, punch downs of the skins took place 4 times a day with a wooden punch down tool. The fermentation completed after approximately 14 days where after all white varietals were left on the skin for 6 weeks, whilst still receiving daily punch downs. The Georgian's sometimes leave their whites on the skins for 6 months, giving their wines thee trademark amber or orange hue. We took a slightly more conservative approach for the first Obscura vintage! The extended skin contact helps with the extraction of tannin from the skins, pips and stems which aids in preserving the wines, acting as an antioxidant to SO2. After six weeks on the skins the wine was separated from the skins. The free run wine was separated with no additional pressing of the skins due to enough tannins already being present in the wine.

Thereafter the Qvevri were filled with single varietal wines (without skins) for 6 months before being racked off the lees, blended and bottled. The final wine was un-fined, unfiltered and bottled without addition of SO2.