Asara The Vineyard Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2018, such a lovely lunch time partner with Nomu’s Quinoa & Herb Salad.

Wednesday, 30 January, 2019
Michael Olivier Communications
One of the joys of the Polkadraai Hills is that it offers Asara Wine Estate a number of different altitudes, aspects and microclimates. The vineyards from which the grapes for the Asara Vineyard The Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2018 are harvested are planted on the highest slopes on decomposed granite soils and are 22 years of age.

The vineyards are cared for in such a way that they deliver grapes in the early part of the ideal ripeness window which display the green flavours for which the wine is known. Picked later the flavours tend to be more tropical.

The grapes for the Asara Vineyard The Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2018 are harvested very early in the morning into small lug boxes and are rapidly transferred to the cellar where they are cooled overnight. Bunch sorting them takes place and the grapes are destalked and the juice is left on the skins in drainers overnight.

All this taking place in an oxygen free atmosphere. Pure free run juice is used for the fermentation, after which the wine lies on its lees for 6 months. This builds the mid palate and adds a creaminess to the wine and an undertow of hazelnuts. The wine is then prepared for bottling.

Pour
From a Burgundy shaped bottle under screw cap. The label is simple and elegant in the traditional Asara Style. In the glass, the wine is gem bright and a pale golden straw in colour.

The aromas and flavours are a mix of scrunched fynbos herbaceousness, fresh mown grass, asparagus and green figs. The grapes picked later in the ideal ripeness window show a more tropical character, the sweet tropical limes, ripe green melon and a lovely roundness and creaminess. The ending is long and limey, and very refreshing.

Pair
This wine is an anytime wine. Well chilled, it makes the perfect mid-morning refresher, lunch time or as an aperitif for dinner. It loved summery foods, salads, smoked fish or chicken. Nomu’s Quinoa & Herb Salad is the perfect lunch partner for the Asara Vineyard The Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2018. Click here for the recipe.

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