Nov 09: A Sauvignon Blanc made by fermenting juice that was frozen for 5 months after harvest in February and later thawed for fermentation, has led to Diemersdal Wine Estate bringing out one of the Top Ten Sauvignon Blancs of South Africa in the very first year of introduction in 2017 and again in 2018, which is a finalist for the Most Innovative South African Winery Award in the International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC), the result for which will be announced on November 14
It seems to have generated a lot of interest last year and in case it wins the IWSC Award, surely producers from across the world would try the technique and it might be interesting for a couple of Indian wine producers who are always experimenting to improve on its aromas and flavours to try out this technique in order to have a USP over competitors. Sauvignon Blanc is ostensibly the most popular grape after Chenin Blanc in India. A few producers do not make Chenin Blanc but produce only Sauvignon Blanc.
Christened as Diemersdal Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc, it was released for the first time last year, by the 6th generation, heir apparent of the family-owned winery, Thys Louw. Thanks to his quest for optimum tropical fruit expression in Sauvignon Blanc, the unique wine was made by freezing the grape must to -20°C soon after the grapes were harvested in February. The frozen must was thawed during the winter in June, inoculated and allowed to ferment normally. The result was above-average thiol levels leading to a wine of superior tropical character.
A thiol is an organosulfur compound that smells fruity in tiny amounts, but in larger amounts it smells like garlic and is considered a wine fault. Thiols are also a building block of earthiness: They are responsible for grapefruit flavours in Vermentino, Sauvignon Blanc and Colombard whereas and other Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot and Red Bordeaux they add Black Currant flavours.
Louw says that while a high thiol count for a tropical style of South African Sauvignon Blanc amounts to 2,500 nanograms per liter, the Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc measures almost twice as much at 5,000 nanograms per liter. This process helped Diemersdal make a Sauvignon Blanc with tropical flavours and those of gooseberries and sweet grapefruit with a shade of minerality seen mainly in Marlborough varietal. The excellent natural acidity creates balance to the concentrated, rich, mouth-filling texture.’
Here are the Top Ten FNB Sauvignon Blancs out of 176 entries in South Africa in 2018; the results were announced about a month ago.:
Bellingham Homestead 2018
D’Aria The Songbird 2017
De Grendel Koetshuis 2017 (wooded)
Diemersdal Winter Ferment 2018
Flagstone Free Run 2017
Fryer’s Cove Doringbay 2017
Nitida Wild Child 2017 (wooded)
Rustenberg 2018
Tokara Reserve Collection Elgin 2018
Zalze Vineyard Reserve 2017 (Kleine Zalze)
Presented by the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group of South Africa (SBIG) and sponsored by FNB Business since 2007, the competition has become the country’s foremost platform for Sauvignon Blanc producers.
“The global demand for and awareness of Sauvignon Blanc is at an all-time high,” he says. “In South Africa Sauvignon Blanc outsells other white varieties three-to-one. Already South Africa exports over 20m liters (2.25 million cases) of Sauvignon Blanc in bottled and we have the chance to increase this exponentially and make real global mark.”
For Details please visit their website http://diemersdal.co.za/
Source: The company website and https://news.wine.co.za/news.aspx
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