Paul Clüver Family Wines in the cool-climate Elgin region has just released an extraordinarily complex and refined Sauvignon Blanc from the 2025 vintage, a year characterised by the cool growing conditions and slow, later ripening grapes.
Since 1990, Paul Clüver has been growing Sauvignon Blanc on its estate's unique Table Mountain sandstone soils. Chelsea Corney, assistant winemaker at Paul Clüver Family Wines who presided over the making of the 2025 Sauvignon Blanc, says the variety has proven to be truly at home in the Elgin region.
"Being South Africa’s coolest viticulture area, Sauvignon Blanc has always been a key variety for Elgin, as lower temperatures allows the complete spectrum of the cultivar’s flavour, aromatic and textural features to emerge,” says Chelsea.
“Sauvignon Blanc thrives amid sharp diurnal temperature variations and the cool south-easterly breezes during the growing season. Combined with our soils of both Table Mountain sandstone and shale resting atop a water-retaining clay-underbed, this creates an ideal environment for making a distinctive terroir-driven wine from this variety."
The 2025 Paul Clüver Sauvignon Blanc embodies the delicate balance of nature and meticulous winemaking. "Gentle handling and delicate pressing are crucial for Sauvignon Blanc, given its fragility and complex spectrum of flavours and aromas," Chelsea explains.
"Our approach in the cellar ensures we maintain the wine’s sensory harmony, preserving the purity of fruit expression for which the grape is renowned,” she says. “But together with the melange of flavours, including what I’d call a tropical minerality that is a distinctive feature of Paul Clüver Sauvignon Blanc, we strive for structure by giving the wine textural nuances leading to persistence and depth on the palate.”
For this, a portion of the juice underwent overnight skin contact prior to fermentation, as well as seeing a 6% Sémillon component being incorporated, bringing depth and fullness to the wine's mid-palate. The Sémillon contribution is both fermented and aged in 2500l wooden foudré and older barrels.
"The beauty of making Sauvignon Blanc lies in its unrestrained approach – capturing the true essence of terroir and delivering it to the consumer within six months from harvest,"says Chelsea."Post-fermentation, the wine spends two months at a controlled temperature on its lees. This process adds texture and mouthfeel, without overshadowing the wine’s inherent zest and freshness."
Chelsea says that while the 2025 wine currently delivers immense pleasure for lovers of Sauvignon Blanc, the wine will mature to further complexity displaying an astounding variety of tertiary nuances over the next five to ten years.
“Sauvignon Blanc becomes a startling different wine with five years and more of bottle aging,” says Chelsea. “The once-bright acidity mellows into a silky, almost waxy texture, seamlessly carrying layers of savoury depth, gentle spice, and a lingering hint of the Elgin Sauvignon Blanc’s classic charm.”