Nose
Lifted and zesty fruit aromas, showing the full array of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc – cut grass, lemon juice, passionfruit and fig.
Palate
The initial impression is crisp, fresh acidity that combines with medium body to give a refreshing lightness. The flavours are lime, green apple and fig, followed by a clean finish with no astringency.
Growing Conditions
Our much discussed exquisite summer weather of 2011 worked a treat on the Sauvignon Blanc. Although it had a relatively early flowering, the length of season from then to harvest was slightly longer than average, for reasons about which we are not really sure. This suggests the temperatures were lower than average but this was not the case. We suspect it’s more likely that our observations were not quite as accurate as they could have been.
Our window for harvesting Sauvignon Blanc is quite narrow so we need to be vigilant with our sampling. Its juicy, “green” characters can quickly disappear if the weather conditions are favourable for rapid ripening. Depending on the season, once the sugar goes beyond an equivalent alcohol level of about 12.5%, the leafy, grassy notes are quickly replaced by tropical and oily notes like papaya and guava. While these are not unpleasant, they are not really suitable in the style we prefer to make.
As we approached the start of vintage, our usual expectation is to commence with Pinot Noir, followed after about a week by Chardonnay and then Sauvignon Blanc. However, in 2011 we got a bit of a surprise when our early samples indicated the latter was likely to precede the Pinot Noir and sure enough, that’s how things turned out.
The numbers are somewhat contradictory but things are not too difficult to explain. We had such glorious Spring weather that all varieties flowered earlier and faster than average. Sauvignon Blanc flowered on 12th November, some 16 days ahead of average and then it was harvested at 12.4 Baume, slightly riper than its 12.2 average on 16th February, some 14 days earlier than average. Here’s an amusing twist. To have ripened in time to be picked on its average harvest date, the ripening period from flowering must have been slightly longer than the mean. Indeed it was, 98 days compared to the 10 year average of 92 days. Curious folk may wonder why this difference is 6 days, not the expected 14. The explanation may lie in the yield, which was down to 9.89 tonnes per hectare, from 11.30. The vines had a lot less work to do this year to ripen the smaller crop.
On the other hand, the impact of the yield can be seen in reverse with the Semillon. It flowered on 9th November, 2 weeks earlier than average, and was picked on 2nd March, which is 16 days earlier than average and our earliest on record. All is as expected so far. However, its ripeness was 12.5 Baume, slightly lower than its 13 Baume average and its ripening season was 113 days, compared with its average of 113. Even with an average season length, it did not reach the long-term, mean ripeness but we suspect this is because unlike the Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon managed to beat its average yield of 11.3 tonne per hectare, producing a very respectable 15.91! The average ripeness for Ribbon Vale Semillon provides an interesting insight into the difference in rates of ripening for sugar, as opposed to the flavour components, across all varieties. At harvest, we rely on a number of indicators when assessing full ripeness and deciding on harvest dates but our favourite is the appearance of the mature fruit flavours. Amusingly, at least until the sensitivity of analytical machines improves, this is one of the artistic aspects of winemaking because we rely entirely on the human palate for these measurements. Not all wine flavours are perceivable in grape juice. In fact, a number are flavourless until released during the fermentation process. However, some significant ones are perceivable in juice and people are currently the best machines for the job.
