Diemersdal’s Wild Horseshoe and The Journal Sauvignon Blancs, both from the 2024 vintage, were awarded Golds out of the nearly 1 000 Sauvignon Blanc wines entered into this year’s competition from 25 countries. This year’s Sauvignon Selection was held in Varaždin, Croatia where Diemersdal was responsible for two of the 13 Gold medals awarded to South African Sauvignon Blancs.
“These awards are a great way to bring in the year, and also vindicate our belief in the quality of the 2024 vintage on Diemersdal,” says Thys Louw, sixth generation proprietor-winemaker on this icon Durbanville wine estate. “A cool, mild growing season following a cold, wet winter provided ideal conditions for our dryland-farmed vineyards and as the results of this competition show, the quality of these wines is the result of nature.”
Yes, but a certain degree of deft cellar-skill was also involved. Both Diemersdal The Journal and Wild Horseshoe are wood-matured Sauvignon Blancs with a focus on the seamless combination between visceral Diemersdal cool-climate terroir expression and textural complexity.
The Journal Sauvignon Blanc is crafted from selected vineyards on Diemersdal’s cooler maritime slopes, where site-specific viticulture ensures optimal ripeness and concentration while retaining natural acidity. Meticulous canopy management and low-yielding vines enhance flavour intensity and structural depth.
In the cellar, the wine is fermented and matured in 500-litre French oak barrels of which 20% are new. Extended maturation of approximately 11 months at low temperatures allows gradual integration of oak while preserving varietal freshness. This measured approach results in a Sauvignon Blanc defined by layered texture, restraint and site-driven complexity.
Following the harvesting of the Sauvignon Blanc grapes for the Wild Horseshoe wine, the grapes undergo extended skin contact of approximately 96 hours to extract phenolic texture and complexity. Fermentation occurs naturally using wild yeasts, after which the wine is matured in oak barrels for about 11 months. This approach results in a Sauvignon Blanc with notable structure, layered mouthfeel and distinctive character.
“We are immensely pleased that wooded and skin-contact South African Sauvignon Blancs are gaining international recognition, such as in the Sauvignon Selection by Concourse de Bruxelles,” says Louw. “The world-wide commercial popularity of Sauvignon Blanc largely rests on the bracing, fresh and bright unwooded styles. However, some oak maturation and maturity in the bottle shows that Sauvignon Blanc can deliver the same degree of complexity and nuance as any of the world’s great white wine varieties and this is opening-up a total new level of appreciation for this noble white variety on which we at Diemersdal focus.”