SWEET SAUVIGNON BLANC?
"We make it because it's cool." Hear Jules explain why she loves "the little sweetie" so much...
FOOD MATCH
Food and wine pairing doesn't get much better than a glass or two of Jules' Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc matched with a sticky (or stinky!) cheese platter, garnished with caramelised figs and honey toasted nuts. YUM!
WINEMAKERS NOTES
The 2018 vintage was one of those times when Mother Nature created the perfect conditions for the noble rot to develop in the grapes. This led to some wonderfully dehydrated berries that provided us with intensely flavoured viscous juice.
AROMA & FLAVOUR
This wine has outstanding aromas of passionfruit, lychee’s and caramelised fig with notes of honey and a touch of white floral fragrance. The palate is decadently sweet with concentrated flavours of ripe passionfruit, lychee and apricot marmalade and a hint of grapefruit pith. A soft line of acidity from its Sauvignon Blanc heritage cuts through the sweetness to balance the rich flavours to perfection. Luscious!
VINTAGE NOTES
Temperatures in Marlborough were a few degrees higher than normal heading into spring. Moisture content in the soils were low which lead to an even bud burst in the vines. Below average rain fall continued from September to December, these settled weather conditions were ideal for flowering and a great fruit set. The Sauvignon flowered very close behind the other varieties, and we were beginning to worry that everything would be ready to harvest at the same time! Post flowering, the warmer temperatures continued but the dry conditions gave way to frequent rainfall which meant verasion was earlier than usual in Marlborough. Due to the strong fruit set, colour thinning and fruit dropping were required in some of the blocks to ensure yields were kept down. With all of the rain that fell January to March, canopies were in excellent health all the way to harvest. The sizable rainfall events in late February and early March caused disease across the district, but luckily for this wine, disease equals deliciousness! And we were able to leave this botrytised fruit on the vines for a good amount of time to allow them over ripen and become more intensely sweet, fruity and sticky.
VINIFICATION
We hand picked the grapes one cold morning late April 2018. The raisined berries were crushed and pressed a first time. The juice from the initial pressing was chilled and returned to the press, allowing the skins to rehydrate, and thus obtaining a little more of the precious nectar. The viscous juice was settled then fermented in a small tank, a slow affair due to the high concentration of sugars in the juice. We finally bottled in August of 2018.
