Nose
The sauvignon blanc provides fragrant aromatics while the ripe semillon fills out the palate. It has very up-front flavours with guava, passionfruit and a touch of green leaf from the sauvignon blanc and some fig and lemon sherbet notes from the semillon.
Palate
Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is delightfully fragrant, has tropical flavours of passionfruit, lychee and guava as well as grassy yet restrained herbal notes and a squeeze of lemon citrus. It is vibrant, juicy, pristine and finer than most expressions of this blend. Flavour builds in the glass before a finish that is refreshingly crisp with zippy acidity and an aftertaste that is dry and lingering.
Growing Conditions
This was a good vintage for these varieties at the Ribbon Vale Vineyard. In spite of crop thinning, both yielded slightly above average. The warm year means that each variety has good weight and vibrant attractive aromatics. If pushed, Keith believes that the sauvignon blanc fared slightly better out of the two in 2004. Although the Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is made to maximise immediate enjoyment of the wine – whereas the Semillon is built for structure and longevity – the approach in the Ribbon Vale vineyard to achieve this is every bit as rigorous as it is in the Moss Wood vineyard. To maintain concentration of flavour, one quarter of sauvignon blanc and one third of semillon was dropped from the vines. Amusingly, the vineyard still cropped at the level that staff had estimated before thinning took place. They dread to think what might have happened if it hadn’t been cut back. The grapes were picked in two halves: the sauvignon blanc commenced on the 3rd of March when it was 12° beaume and the yield 12 tonnes / hectare; the semillon began on the 19th of March when it was 13.4° beaume and yielding 11.6 tonnes / hectare.
Bottling
27/7/2004
