Product Description
UPPER HEMEL-EN-AARDE VALLEY, South Africa
Varieties
73% Sauvignon Blanc
27% Semillon
The Vineyard
Resonance is predominantly sourced from our single Sauvignon Blanc vineyard, cultivated in quartz and sandstone soil. They found this solitary site most suited to Sauvignon Blanc, nestled in a hollow of the uppermost slopes where the mountain bedrock had eroded down to form this soil type. They farm this parcel organically, gradually increasing this practice in all our farming over time.
The Sauvignon Blanc vineyard lies on the uppermost slopes at an altitude of 282m, in the porphyritic Granite soils of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rainfall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August). The Semillon was sourced from a neighbour grower in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley appellation. This vineyard lies at 285m altitude on a southern slope of 11%.
SOIL : Sandstone and coarse fragments of quartz for the Sauvignon blanc portion and duplex, porphyritic decomposed granite soils for the Semillon portion.
ASPECT : West facing slope of 11%. South facing slope of 11%
TRELISSING : 7-wire Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) with movable wires.
PRUNING : Cordon
AGE OF VINES : 14-16 years
VINES PER Ha : 3333
AVERAGE YIELD : 6 tons/ha (42hl/ha) Sauvignon Blanc
7 tons/ha (49hl/ha) Semillon
The Harvest
This is the 3rd straight vintage that was warmer and earlier than the average. The preceding winter had decent rain, though was quite poor in terms of accumulated cold temperatures. Fortunately, there were no major abnormalities with budding in the last week of August, a week later than ’15 and ’16. A sustained, dry and warm summer kept the vine canopies relatively modest in growth vigour, and the crop was lower than average. A significant event was the 50mm of rain received on the 27th January as the first parcels of Pinot Noir were being harvested. This resulted in a delay in ripening for everything else on the vine, with moderate temperatures allowing grape flavours to develop without sugar accumulation. The Sauvignon Blanc was harvested on the 24th of February and the Semillon on the 14th of March.
The Cellar
The grapes are packed in to large-surface area crates to limit crushing of the bunches. The day’s harvest is cooled down overnight to 8ºC in the winery’s refrigerated cold room. The bunches are hand-sorted on a conveyor, destemmed and crushed in to stainless steel tanks where, after a few hours, the juice is allowed to drain into lower tanks for settling. The juice is settled clear over a couple of days by cooling only (no enzyme) and racked for indigenous fermentation which is maintained at 16ºC until the wine is dry (16 – 20 days). 27% of the blend includes Semillon that has been fermented by indigenous yeasts and matured for 3 months in new oak puncheons (500L barrels).
ANALYSIS
Alcohol by volume Total : 13.66%
Acidity : 6.1 g/l
pH : 3.40
Residual sugar : 1.6 g/l
BOTTLES P RODUCED : 4200 x 750ml
Aging Potential
8 years
