South Oaks Barrell fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2022
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR: Bright straw
AROMA: Fragrant with rock melon, mandarin peel. Lifted notes of dry herbs, lime leaf, supplemented by complex aromas of nougat and slate.
PALATE: This wine displays tension and great length. The palate is tight and fresh, supported with a dense fruit weight and underlying chalky minerality providing linear structure. The mouthfeel is intense and yet seamless and balanced.
ANALYSIS: Alc. 13 % | pH 3.10 | TA 7.0
WINEMAKERS NOTES
The fruit is hand-picked, hand sorted then whole bunch pressed. A proportion of juice is fermented on skins. Fermentation begins naturally (with vineyard indigenous yeast). The juice is fermented in large French oak vessels (500-1300L). After fermentation the wine is aged on yeast lees for 10 months.
VITICULTURALISTS NOTES
Vigour and fertility in this block is very low resulting from the high Greywacke rock content. As a result, the vines are treated differently to normal Sauvignon Blanc with only 2 canes laid, shoot thinned to 16 shoots, hand leaf plucked with a high 80% exposure. Very small berried and open bunches are typical in this block, with an average cropping level of 2.5kg per vine. At harvest the berries take on a blush appearance as it is ripened to around 23-24 Brix. One of the secrets to this block is that it holds its acidity level at high brix / ripeness levels.
