Six Bottles of Mahi Sauvignon Blanc

Mahi Sauvignon Blanc:

• This wine shows an array of fruit characters, ranging from citrus through to tropical notes. This is complemented by some secondary characters from the natural yeast ferments and also some barrel aging. The palate has an elegant structure with a creamy, textural mid-palate and a long finish
• The 2019 vintage proved to be the teams earliest finish ever, which also fits in with their earliest start by five days, starting on March 7th. Strangely enough, although it was the teams earliest vintage it was definitely not the warmest. This vintage can be defined by a number of characteristics, starting with lower rainfall. From Christmas Day until the end of harvest and overall we received only 75% of our normal rain through the entire growing period. We also saw smaller berries, especially in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but also in Sauvignon. Pinot was hit very hard and we were down nearly 50% but also the Sauvignon berries were about 30% smaller than last year. With no rain there was hardly any Botrytis inoculum around and the fruit was the cleanest we have seen in a number of years. This was also helped by the warmer days, especially since the start of January where the deviation from average growing degree days really kicked in
• The focus with this wine is to provide a drink that has texture and depth, rather than focusing solely on primary fruit notes. The winemakers want a wine that satisfies across the palate and employs a number of techniques to achieve this. The Sauvignon this year comes from six different vineyards, all of them giving particular attributes to the final wine. The hand-picked fruit was whole-cluster-pressed so that the time on skins was minimised. A portion of this juice, 20% this year, was barrel-fermented in older French oak to give greater weight, though ensuring that wood is not evident on the nose. The balance of the wine was fermented cool to retain the fruit characters from their vineyards. The native ferment portion, 39%, also adds levels of flavour and texture, giving a savoury note that balances some sweeter fruit. The final blend was made solely from freerun juice, which gives a more elegant and subtle wine
• ABV: 13.4%
• Dimensions (Vol): 6 x 750ml