Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2021.

Intense flavours of gooseberries, kiwi and a strong herbal interest. The palate reveals layers of complexity with mineral structure and greener notes. Enjoy now or cellar for the next 5 years.

VINEYARDS: The 2021 vintage started slowly and about 12 days later than normal. Very cold and wet winter laid the perfect foundation to a magnificent vintage. The growing season had moderate day temperatures with cold evenings, perfect for Sauvignon blanc. The wine was produced from selected dryland vineyards in Stellenbosch (False Bay), Durbanville and Darling. Canopy management involved an early suckering action and breaking leaves in the bunch zone to get sufficient sunlight on the bunches at an early stage.

VINTAGE: Kleine Zalze concluded the 2021 harvest by mid-April. The wine is all safely in the winery and we are very happy with the vintage and extremely excited at this early stage about the exceptional wines that will flow from the 2021 crop. Excellent winter rains and late rains into spring ensured good moisture content in the soil with the onset of the growing season. The prolonged cool spring weather meant that bud burst was about two weeks later than normal and slightly uneven. The subsequent moderate to cool weather during flowering and berry set continued into the rest of the growing season. The much cooler than normal growing season meant that we started harvest two weeks later than normal. The cool weather also persisted through the harvest period leading to not only exceptional acidity in the grapes and wine but the best acid balance ever seen in our grapes and wine. The harvest was briefly interrupted by a fairly large rain event, of nearly 60mm, early in March. This was initially a cause for some concern. However, moderate and dry weather following the rain actually ensured a long healthy ripening for our grapes and the late ripening varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, reached physiological ripeness at lower sugar levels than normal. All in all, the vintage resulted in wines that have amazing balance and finesse and what they may not have in power they will make up with great purity and elegance.

WINEMAKING:The grapes were picked very early in the morning. Every process from picking to bottling was done super reductive with dry ice being added in the bins in the vineyard already. After destemming and crushing we gave at least 24hours skin contact. Only the free run juice was settled for 1 day and then racked to the fermentation vessel. It was inoculated with selected yeast strain and fermentation took place at 13°C. The wine spent 7 months on the primary lees before being blended and bottled.

ENJOY WITH

• Grilled and Roasted White Meats
• Fish/Shellfish
• Salads and Picnics
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mild Creamy Cheeses
• Mature Strong Cheeses