ah Semillon 2005
“Liebe (Jacus’ oldest daughter) joined us on our special planet. We however lost our beloved staffie Tut – maybe one fight too many with a porcupine. Bernhard was invited to join the CWG. Negotiations for the Durbanville Water Pipeline were completed. There was fantastic weather all through the growth-phase and harvest - although the vineyards were still suffering from previous drought years. Bernhard began experimenting with a new white blend and we held our first grape stomp on the farm.”
Tasting Notes
The 2004 wine is a complex blend of ripe fruit made very interesting by suggestions of yellow peppers, fresh dustiness, and a pleasing floral tone. Ripe pear, white peaches and dried apricots are upfront with the anticipated characteristics of lanolin and honey combining beautifully with citrus marmalade on the nose and palate. Held together by firm acids, this wine will age beautifully as the honey flavours deepen to a suggestion of fig preserve. Drink summer or winter with your favourite foods, it will refresh rich creamy dishes and give complexity to the simplest salad.
Winemaker Comments
In this, our 5th semillon harvest, we followed a picking strategy similar to the sauvignon blanc, harvesting for optimal flavour and ripeness. All the grapes are off Nitida vineyards so the wine is made from only the exclusive GD1 clone, which bears beautiful fruit flavours and is set to re-invent this cultivar in SA. The 2005 is made reductively under controlled cool temperatures below 14 degrees C.....5% sauvignon blanc for crispness and acid to liven the palate. We have gone back to a single blend of 50:50 tank:wooded (50% new, 50% 2nd fill French 3 mths). Already the wine is showing magnificent integration and rich full flavours. Possibly even more accessible than last year. The growing popularity of this wine and our reputation as a semillon producer has resulted in us once again making a limited release semillon for Woolworths.
