Unexpected twists in sauvignon blanc 4 October 2006

Martin Moore finds significant differences as well as pleasure in
Durbanville' signature variety

Sauvignon blanc has really become the signature cultivar of our cool Durbanville area. All the major cultivars do well here because of the diversity of terroir created by our hills and valleys, but Sauvignon blanc really does particularly well, producing wines that are a joy to sip, to drink, even indulge in. “Lekker!” says it all about these wines, but how do I ever translate into English this wonderfully expressive Afrikaans word, so redolent of nuance and meaning? The dictionary tells me to choose from nice, delicious, palatable, tasty, pleasant, pleasurable, enjoyable. What a bunch of feeble, spineless alternatives! So, you will just have to live with it: When I say “lekker” I mean “lekker”! And these Sauvignon blancs are “lekker”.

In addition, the grapes delivered to the cellar display a remarkable range of clearly distinguishable flavours with almost every vineyard having its own distinctive character. It is always such a pleasurable experience to taste the different tanks – yes, we vinify the grapes from the various vineyards separately – before we make up the final blends for bottling.

I have always found it such a pity to have to blend away that myriad of flavours and individual characteristics.

Two new wines

While experimenting with new clones and having a fresh look at our production area I started playing with the idea of creating two new Sauvignon blancs demonstrating the diverse flavour spectrums that exist within the same cultivar and the same geographic location. So this last vintage I selected grapes from two vineyards that represent the two dominant styles we get. The one lot came from a vineyard high up on a slope in the cool inner valley that normally ripens quite late, and the other from a relatively low-lying one on the outer rim of our production area where the average temperature is several degrees higher and the grapes tend to ripen early.

I vinified the two batches the same way so as not to manipulate in any way the character of either wine. The two have just been bottled and were launched during the Season of Sauvignon as part of our Rhinofields Reserve range. In a remarkable burst of creativity we named them the Rhinofields Inner Valley Sauvignon Blanc and the Rhinofields Outer Valley Sauvignon. Because we made so little of each, the two wines are only available at the cellar.

Nothing as crucial as climate

Now here is something interesting (for me, at least). Normally in a Sauvignon blanc from a cooler area the grassy, green pepper flavours dominate while the tropical flavours will prevail in a wine of this cultivar from a warmer area.

Funny thing is in these two wines it is just the other way round – in the one from the inner valley, the tropical flavours predominate and in the one from the outer valley the grassy ones do. There is an explanation, and it has all to do with the weather. Early in the season when the grapes in the outer valley were ripening, the weather was unusually cool. Then, later in the season, there was a hot spell just as the grapes in the inner valley were reaching optimal ripeness. The result – reversed characteristics.

I have seldom encountered such a graphic demonstration of the impact of climate on wine. But reversed characteristics or not, I find both these new wines beautiful expressions of this cultivar.