In the continuous pursuit for optimal terroir expression and excellence in Sauvignon Blanc, Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville has released the first South African wine to be fermented and matured in Wineglobe, a bulbous pure glass container designed for winemaking. These 220l vessels, made in Bordeaux, France, were released commercially in 2020 and have since been in use by mostly French winemakers, proving to produce distinctive wines totally different to those fermented in wood, concrete, stainless steel or amphorae.
The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2023 from Diemersdal sees a wine made in Wineglobes introduced into South Africa for the first time, this Sauvignon Blanc having been fermented in the glass vessels, where they remained for 12 months before developing further in bottle for another year.
Thys Louw, proprietor and winemaker at Diemersdal, says The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2023 offers a unique rendition of Sauvignon Blanc grown on this Durbanville estate, as glass Wineglobes allow for the most neutral environment of any vessel used to ferment and age wine.
“Wood imparts its own flavour, and like concrete and amphorae, is porous, while stainless-steel is influenced by static electricity,” he says. “The Wineglobes allow for a totally closed, unfettered environment in which the wine is permitted to express clarity of terroir and variety to the full. I am incredibly pleased at the results – I thought I’d by now gotten to know what Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc can offer, seeing that before The Globe we were already making eight different wines from the cultivar. But the precision and purity of the wine aged in the Wineglobes has allowed us to see Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc and its terroir in a new dimension of clarity and linear focus.”
The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2023 was made from a 31-year-old vineyard, farmed dryland as are all Diemersdal’s vines. After destemming and crushing the juice was placed in the 220l Wineglobes to ferment, some whole berries being added for grip and structure. Fermentation completed after 10 days, and the Sauvignon Blanc spent a full year in the Wineglobes, the clear glass being covered by casings to protect the contents from light.
Juandré Bruwer, winemaker at Diemersdal, says the Wineglobes are left in peace for the entire period of maturation. “We’ll stir the lees once a month upon which the lees is held naturally in suspension for their subtle influence, but we don’t want to overdo it, preferring to keep things as pure and unhindered as possible,” he says. “The cellar-area where the Wineglobes are placed is at a constant 18°C, an ideal temperature so no cooling is required.”
The Globe Sauvignon Blanc is bottled under a unique label portraying the timelessness of this wine and cementing Diemersdal’s ethos of embracing the importance of visionary winemaking and of looking into the future.
Using the crest of the Louw family, who have owned Diemersdal and made wine here for six generations, an hourglass has been imaged. This hourglass with its flowing sand reflects the timeless nature of the art of wine and the passing-on of a family wine tradition at Diemersdal through the sands of time. It underscores the inextricable link between the story of time and the Louw family crest, that has been a part of the Diemersdal legacy since 1885.
Only 1000 bottles of Diemersdal The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2023 were made, and costs R750 per bottle.