In a quest for optimum tropical fruit expression in Sauvignon Blanc, Thys Louw from Diemersdal Estate has released the first South African wine from this grape variety made by fermenting grape must that had been frozen after harvesting.
According to a press release by Diemersdal Estate, the Diemersdal Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2017 was made by freezing the grape must to -20°C soon after the grapes were harvested in February and the frozen must was thawed in June this year, inoculated and allowed to ferment as per normal.
Louw said the results of this freezing and late “winter” ferment have been anything but normal.
“For reasons unknown, the wine is showing flavours and chemical analyses I have never encountered in any of the Sauvignon Blancs made at Diemersdal. The primary feature is the high occurrence of thiol compounds. These thiols are what gives Sauvignon Blanc the passion fruit and goose-berry flavours for which especially the wines from New Zealand have become famous for,” he said.
Louw said that while a high thiol count for a tropical style of South African Sauvignon Blanc amounts to 2 500 nanogram per litre, the Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc measures in the region of 5 000 nanograms per litre.
“This high thiol level is unheard of in South Africa and is more in line with what one would find in wines from Marlborough in New Zealand. When I set out with the idea of freezing must, I wanted to see what the effect would be on the freshness and the complexity of the wine, including a possible increase in thiols. But no way did I expect the frozen juice to deliver a wine with double the thiol level we at Diemersdal had become accustomed to and with such extraordinary tropical flavours”
“The grapes for the Winter Ferment were night-harvested at 23B, with crushing and destemming done reductively. Skin contact of three hours was followed by pressing and the juice was allowed to settle for 48 hours after which it was frozen. The fermentation of this wine was postponed for four months before inoculated with CKS yeast. After two weeks alcoholic fermentation at 14-16oC the wine was bottled,” he said.
Louw described the wine as the most “new world style of Sauvignon Blanc” he has made.
Recommended retail price: R140