Sauvignon Blanc has become South Africa’s number one white wine cultivar and considerable excitement usually surrounds the launch of the first wine of the new vintage.
Du Toitskloof’s Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular with local wine lovers and is probably the biggest single reason for this cellar’s growing reputation for wines of exceptional value. WINE magazine last year judged it the best value South African wine while the cellar itself has been selected three times during the past five years as the winery offering exceptional value across the entire product range.
Du Toitskloof Wines general manager Philip Jordaan said the wine launched now would give consumers the opportunity to taste within the same season the wines from this year’s vintage.
"We were particularly keen to get the wine to consumers before the Easter weekend. Apart from its deeper religious meaning it is also a time when family and friends gather and this particular wine lends itself extremely well to such occasions. It is a crisp, unpretentious wine of intense flavours showing all the typical tropical characteristics of this cultivar."
Jordaan said the grapes – Sauvignon Blanc is an early ripening varietal – was harvested during the night in late January. It took eight weeks from picking to bottling.
"Although the Breede River Valley is known for its hot summers, the grapes for this wine come from farms up against the foothills of the Du Toitskloof Mountains that lose the sun early in the afternoon. When areas such as Paarl are still basking in the heat of the afternoon sun, these farms have already been in the shadow for a long time. In addition, picking this year was preceded by a prolonged cool period that promoted slow ripening and thus flavour concentration," Jordaan said.