Sauvignon Blanc 2004

Gold Medal Winner Bordeaux Concours 2005
Silver Medal Winner Paris Concours 2005
Guide Hachette 2006 - One star

A long growing season and fastidious work throughout the year has enabled us to produce an exceptionally aromatic sauvignon blanc in 2004. Intense flavours of tropical fruits are perfectly balanced by a fresh acidity in a wine that exhibits all the trademark flavours of the grape variety.

In the Vineyard

After a cool start to the year May and June were more ‘normal’ but three hailstorms in July and August meant that any affected bunches had to be individually removed. August was incredibly wet with a total of 112mm of rainfall that brought the need to remove, by hand, any bunches that touched each other – to avoid subsequent rot. Happily, temperatures increased dramatically in September, ripening the grapes and allowing our first harvest to take place on 20th of the month.

Varieties:		Sauvignon Blanc (100%)
Health:		Organic fertiliser
		Manual de-leafing
		Considerate spraying regime
		Manual removal of any botrytis-affected fruit
Yields:		Intense bunch and clusterthinning
		Green harvest by hand
		Overall yield 45 hectolitres per hectare
Harvest:		100% hand-picked
		20th and 23rd September

In the Winery

Careful hand-picking along with a further check on arrival at the winery assured that only healthy grapes went into our stainless-steel fermentation tanks. Bunches were de-stemmed and lightly crushed. Natural enzymes were added to enable full flavour extraction and the juice was then rested on its’ skins, without the addition of sulphur, for twenty four hours before being pressed. Only the free-run juice was retained. After settling, yeast was added and low temperatures were maintained throughout fermentation. Following fermentation, the lees were stirred every two days for three weeks and the wine then rested on its’ lees for a further two months, adding greater body and complexity to the wine.

A total of 750 cases were produced.

In the Glass

Colour:		Pale straw
Smell:		Floral with tropical fruit aromas.
Taste:		Intense. Flavours of fresh lime and lychee combined with elderflower notes and a zesty acidity. Long finish.
Alcohol:		12.0%

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