No-nonsense Beauty

Very bright yellow in the glass with green reflexes and fresh, mineral notes as well as aromas of grass, green asparagus and green melons in the nose. Still fresh, tangy and fruity (citrus fruits, gooseberries, red currants) on the palate with a very nice fruit-acid balance.

One of the best Sauvignon blancs from the Cape (5 stars in Wine merchant Decanter)

“Quando is a family business, operated by sixth generation descendents, brothers Fanus and Martin Bruwer. The Vineyards and Winery is situated between Robertson and Bonnievale, 150 km east of Cape Town.

12 hectares of the vineyards are planted with Sauvignon blanc. In addition to growing citrus and apricots, a Friesland dairy herd is also kept on the 190 hectare farm. This creates good organic manure for the vineyards.

Fanus and Martin harvest their Sauvignon blanc in three cycles: “We taste the grapes first, instead of having them analysed chemically.” The first pick is done when the grapes are just ripe and have the taste of sour figs. That brings freshness and acidity to the wine. The next pick (about ten days later) is done when ripe figs, peach and grassiness is tasted in the grapes. This is for the tropical fruit spectrum of the wine. The last picking is normally harvested at 24° Balling (approx. 105° Öchsle). “At this stage of ripeness, we are not the only ones after the grapes – birds just love ripe Sauvignon blanc and help themselves daily. So we have to hurry to get the harvest in.”

All picking is done by hand very early in the morning to take the vintage into cellar while fresh. The grapes are cooled down to 6° C before being crushed. For about 7 hours the juice and skins are kept together at these low temperatures. Then the skins are pressed in “Old Bessie” (basket press). By feeling the pressure can be limited before harsh phenols get released from the skins.

After another 48 hours yeasts are then added to the juice and fermentation slowly gets underway at low temperatures.

After fermentation the wine is kept in the same tank for two months at 8° C at low sulphur levels for yeast autolysis. This process lets the yeast cells break up and releases all the flavours into the wine. The low temperature keeps the yeast cells inactive and preserves the wine – extremely low sulphur levels are required to stabilise the wine.

Six weeks after the last wine has finished fermenting, it is tasted in different lots to decide what to use in the big blend. The final filtering process separates the yeast cells – the wine is now ready for filling. (Weine merchant Vinumshop)

Further information at www.quando.co.za

Alcohol by volume: 13%, ´total acidity: 7.8 g/l, residual sugar: 3.2 g/l,
serving temperature: 8–10° C, best before: 2010, tasted on: 5.2.2008

Approx. 11 Euro