“ … Golden, sweet and rich yet with an intensity of bright aromatic fruit. The sweetness fills the palate, providing a sense of volume, and despite its high level of residual sugar, it remains tidy on the finish.…”
The grapes were grown on a series of north facing, gradually descending terraces in stony, freely draining soil. We especially ensured that there was good exposure to the fruit to ensure optimal ripening. This individual terroir is especially suited to semillon.
The growing season was influenced by La Nina weather conditions, resulting in a very mild spring, a warm summer with high sunshine hours and a long, lingering autumn. In spite of being dry we had infrequent, but well spaced showers keeping the vines very happy. We left the semillon and sauvignon blanc on the vines until late in the season when they had developed perfect noble botrytis.
At 26 brix the fruit was perfectly ripe and clean before botrytis infection. There were three perfect infection periods that gave 100% botrytis all very evenly, this increased the brix to 50. We harvested all the fruit in one pick as it was perfect, beautifully raisined, nobly botrytic grapes to produce this wine. We obtained a small amount of very concentrated juice by pressing and this was put into selected French artisan oak barriques and allowed to undergo natural fermentation by the grapes’ indigenous yeasts. The wine was then matured in these barriques for four years before the best were carefully blended to make this wine.
A warm golden hue reflects the ripeness of the semillon and the clean noble botrytis. The generous bouquet and flavour suggest peaches, apricots, comb honey, nougat, marzipan and toasted almonds. It is mouth filling and rich but at the same time has elegance and poise. There is a sinuous spine of acidity and minerality that draws out the length and provides a perfect balance to the wine's natural lusciousness.
“ … Golden, sweet and rich yet with an intensity of bright aromatic fruit. The sweetness fills the palate, providing a sense of volume, and despite its high level of residual sugar, it remains tidy on the finish.…”
“ … The mouthfeel is opulent; creamy, honey-like texture sustains powerful layers and structure … This Noble Semillon Sauvignon is powerful and harmonious, opulently expressed with finesse and complexity….”
“… A sweet, full-bodied wine with delightful acidity … Wonderfully balanced, displaying great length and depth.”
“ … a stunning bouquet with intense, complex, savoury aromas … A well-poised wine with plenty of enjoyment factor.”
“ … A midweight style that has rich, sweet fruit within its core … The finish retains a freshness that keeps this wine moving along despite its high levels of sweetness …”
“ … this dangerously delicious dessert wine is all kinds of evil on the sweet sensation front … it’s lusciously refreshing … Outstanding.”
“ … A luscious, honeyed sweet white that is full-bodied with amazing depth on concentration and a long zesty finish.”
“A super-delicious offering … an opulent palate displaying delectable sweetness brilliantly balanced by vibrant acidity. Richly textured and creamy, making it hugely appealing.”
“ … Full-bodied, luscious to taste, a captivative palate with multilayers … This excellently complex noble Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend has vivid layers and brilliant acid balance.”
“Fantastic bouquet of preserved stone fruits, honey and honeysuckle, moments of elderflower and beeswax, exotic fruits and grapefruit … high acidity, plenty of sweetness, balanced, exotic, fresh and lengthy”
“Flavours that suggest a medley of dried fruits … A luscious, decadent dessert wine.”
“A fragrant nose, offering aromas of quince, apricot, candied lemon with cinnamon and floral undertones. Sweet, yet balanced, with bright acidity and elegant, zesty character. Vibrant and flavourful with a long, fresh finish. Fantastic sweet wine.”
“A wine with a real ‘Wow!’ factor … mouthfilling, with concentrated stone-fruit and honey flavours, … great richness and harmony"
“… Very powerful; concentrated and long; … rich and layered. Firm; powerful; …”
“ … full and rich, deep and concentrated … A powerful and exotic wine ….”
“ … palate is lusciously flavored and has a super rich, long and scintillatingly luxuriant texture. A great sweet wine. World class!”
“ … Super rich and opulent … lavishly expressed with a lengthy delicious finish …”
“ … it’s the most gum-numbingly gorgeous, luxuriously toffee-laced, manuka honey-drizzled, apricot jam-jammed thing I’ve tasted in a long, long time. And it’s beyond perfect here.”
“ … this is powerful and intense, with great depth. Very sweet and full-bodied, the palate has extremely rich and succulently opulent flavours … the mouthfeel is fulsome and unctuous … This is a powerful and opulent Noble Sauvignon Blanc …”
“ … Layers of dried fruits, spice and exotic tropical fruit flavours add dimension and complexity. A pure and powerful wine …”
“ … Concentration on the fore here, oily, rich and mouth-filling with powerfully intense flavours of spices and marmalade that linger endlessly … long and intense finish. Compelling stuff”
“ … lovely limey acid spine that keeps the palate fresh and juicy. Great length”
“ … deep apricot and kumquat-marmalade core with long, stylish balance.”
“... very distinctive and packed with energy. On the palate - fantastic! Delicious, honeyed, oozing flavour and texture with huge sweetness equaled by acidity and richness” .
“Deep golden yellow colour with orange hues and lighter green-gold tints on the edge. The bouquet is full, bold and solidly concentrated with rich and ripe aromas … This is a very rich, complex-layered decadent dessert wine”
“...notable complexity on the nose and palate. …substantial body, with super-rich peach and apricot flavours, an oily texture and a lush, raisiny, superbly sustained finish. A wine to ponder over.”
" . . . deep gold, very sturdy, Sauternes-style wine. Lush and very sweet, with notably concentrated, peachy, honeyed flavours, and hints of apricots and raisins, . . . . hard to resist.
"….offers a pretty straw to light golden colour and aromas of preserved lemons, musk and pineapple pastry with a touch of dried herbs. Fully sweet and luscious in the mouth, it has a lovely satiny texture and plenty of expressive, somewhat earthy flavours marked by crisp acid and finishing long. Drink this one now to 2019+.
"Powerful, ripe citrus fruit, honey and nutty oak elements fill the palate providing great depth and texture."
"Densely packed, complex aromas of ripe yellow stonefruits … full-bodied and concentrated, this has layers of flavour that emerge in the glass. Powerful, ripe citrus fruit, honey and nutty oak elements fill the palate providing great depth and texture …. the wine finishing stylishly and with lingering waxy and nutty nuances … This is a concentrated Sauternes-style dessert wine with an array of flavours that will become more complex over the next 6- 8 years."
"Bright gold in colour, oozing toasted nuts, citrus, grapefruit and spices, with a hint of creamy caramel, intense, textural and complex.”
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