Nose
Intense passionfruit with a grassy lift and seductive sweet spices.
Palate
The passionfruit and grassy notes combine with citrus and sweet guavas. There is a complexity to this wine and it will continue to evolve with time in the glass. The palate has a wonderful texture, with flavour intensity and a balanced acid line that gives the wine a lingering finish. Serve chilled, and enjoy whilst young and fresh.
Growing Conditions
From the summer rainfall & river flooding in the Swan Valley, to the threat of not ripening any of the red grapes in Margaret River, the 2017 vintage will be remembered as one of the most nerve-racking and anxious seasons. It certainly beats all of the last 10 vintages I've seen at Sandalford. Overall, the whole growing season, from Spring through to Summer / Autumn was much cooler than average. There were no heat extremes this year. This delayed the ripening of all varieties by at least 3 -4 weeks than normal. For the whites, the wines have excellent flavour concentration and structure and were harvested with a good natural acid and sugar balance.
Harvest
All parcels were machine-harvested in the cool of night during March 2017.
Winemaking
This wine is deliberately made to be a very Sauvignon Blanc dominant style. The Semillon acts in support giving some weight and consistency to the style but it is the more lifted and aromatic qualities of the Sauvignon Blanc that we want to see in this wine. The majority of fruit in this wine was sourced from our Margaret River Estate Vineyard. We have also sourced a small parcel of fruit from exceptional vineyards, to complement our fruit and add complexity to the finished wine. After 3hours of skin contact, the must was pressed, with only the free-run juice utilised for fermentation. Low solids and cool ferment temperatures ensured the fruit characters were preserved to their utmost in the resultant wine.
Appearance
Pale lemon with a lime hue.
