Nose
Fresh aromas of citrus, fig leaf, tobacco, limes and lanolin; medium to full bodied with great texture, fig and citrus flavours
Palate
Filling the mid-palate before a finish that features fresh, linear acidity. Good phenolics on the finish that add length and texture and the wine leaves a finish which is searingly fruity.
Growing Conditions
vintage (with 15th February as the mean harvest date) was the earliest on record (with 1988 in second spot on the 22nd). It was the product of early flowering – the 98 days from flowering to harvest is normal. The season was superb although yields were well down – as the bunch weight reflected. Average bunch weight for the semillon was 170 grams against the long term average of 200 grams. Quality was excellent with the only disappointment being the small volumes.
Bottling
08/6/2007
Winemaking
There were some changes to our approach to Semillon this year, each block was picked according to revised criteria: catching the grapes just before the green characters are lost. There were also some changes to the production techniques with no whole bunch pressing as we returned to the more traditional technique of destemming before pressing. This gives a small amount of skin contact as the fruit goes through the press and has the added advantage of speeding up the process. Fermentation took place as normal in stainless steel tanks held at 18°C, with weekly lees stirring. After the fermentation had been completed, there was a reduction in the amount of lees stirring to emphasise the wine’s primary fruit notes. Before bottling it was fined for protein stabilisation (using bentonite) and tannin (using isinglass). It was sterile filtered and bottled on 9th June 2007.
Appearance
medium-straw in colour.
