DIEMERSDAL has a reputation for being a Sauvignon Blanc specialist pushing the envelope, and ‘Winter Ferment’ is the latest innovation in what cellarmaster Thys Louw describes as a New World style. After the harvest in February, the grape juice/must is frozen and kept at -20°C until June before being thawed and fermented in the Cape winter. Unique in South Africa.

For reasons unknown, says Louw, the wine shows flavours and analyses that he has never encountered with any of the other Sauvignon Blancs made at Diemersdal in the northern reaches of Durbanville. The main characteristics are the passion fruit and gooseberry flavours – at levels higher than what are typical in South Africa, “more in line with what one would find in wines from Marlborough in New Zealand.”

The maiden (2017) release was a Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Competition winner and double gold medallist at the Veritas Awards, with the subsequent vintage placing among the Top 10 winners before collecting gold at Veritas and then at Concours Mondial du Sauvignon in Italy.

Diemersdal Winter Ferment 2018

WO Durbanville, Cape Town. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Dryland farming close to the Atlantic Ocean. Night harvesting. Reductive winemaking. Must frozen after the crush and fermentation postponed for four months. Four months on the lees (spent yeast). Bottled unfiltered (sediment might occur).
Alc 14.7 | RS 3.3 | TA 5.9 | pH 3.6
Producer’s Tasting Notes: intense aromas of gooseberries, tropical fruit and sweet-grapefruit with a core of minerality; concentrated, rich mouth-filling texture.
Food Suggestions: full-flavoured seafood dishes and creamy soup; or blackened, spicy, pan-fried fish.
R145pb at the cellar door.