Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc, Cape South Coast, 2020
critic reviews
Fresh, clean and herbaceous with a citrus-driven nose, the 2020 Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc is ripe with subtle oak spices. Medium-bodied in the mouth, flavors of candied lime and lemon drop sway with notions of pineapple and peach before soft green herbs make their mark. The wine concludes with a tight, ripe and food-friendly finish with a lingering notion of cardamom madeleines.
The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Barrel Fermented was from donated Stellenbosch, Helderberg, Elgin fruit and a little from Greyton (thus WO Western Cape). This was made in a similar style, oxidatively in barrels, at Almenkerk but obviously has a very different terroir expression than the usual Cape South Coast fruit. The fresh, saline, sea-spray-scented bouquet gradually unfurls with aeration in the glass. The palate is well balanced with a grassy, white asparagus and ginger-tinged opening, crisp acidity and a racy but composed finish where you would be hard pressed to detect the barrel ferment, it is so discreet. Superb.