Durbanville & Agulhas Sauvignons get A+ for consistency

CAN’T HELP IT… One look at the SA Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group’s Top 10 for 2012 and two producers stand out: Diemersdal Estate, a Sauvignon specialist in Durbanville, and Lomond of the Cape Agulhas district, whose grapes are hauled across to Stellenbosch each year to turn into wine at The Bergkelder, Distell’s ‘mountain cellar’.

Lomond’s Sauvignon Blancs take some
beating, with that from their Pincushion
vineyard sometimes a tad more appealing
to some than the Sugarbush version
Diemersdal has tended to perform better in competitions with its Eight Rows bottling, but no doubt the Louw family and cellarmaster Thys Louw in particular are all the more happy when it’s the turn of their somewhat more pricey flagship at the podium. Whereas, when it comes to the single-vineyard bottlings from Lomond, the Pincushion and Sugarbush Sauvignons seem to take it in turns in pipping each other by a nose at the finish…
And another of this year’s front-runners that stands out is one of the country’s regular champions in the best-value stakes, albeit in an area not renowned for cutting-edge Sauvignon Blanc. At R32 a bottle, the 2012 vintage from Du Toitskloof is probably the best expression of the variety from the Breedekloof district since the similarly priced 2011 from the Merwida winery on the other side of Rawsonville won a gold medal at the Veritas Awards last year, and it’s No. 1 this year as regards the most easily affordable of the Top 10 – ahead of the R50 Virgin Earth Pepper Tree 2012 (Langeberg-Garcia) and the R60 Simonsig Sunbrid 2012 (from fruit grown in Stellenbosch and Darling).


Herewith the currently-available wines being lauded by the Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group of South Africa (SBIG), in alphabetical order with prices given ex-cellar:

2012 FNB TOP 10 SAUVIGNON BLANC COMPETITION WINNERS

Clos Malverne Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Devon Valley, Stellenbosch, R84pb
Diemersdal MM Louw Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Durbanville, R165
DMZ Sauvignon Blanc 2012 from De Morgenzon – Stellenbosch Kloof, R70pb
Driehoek Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Cederberg, R95
Du Toitskloof Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Rawsonville, Breedekloof, R32pb
Groote Post Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Darling, R68
Lomond Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Cape Agulhas, R110pb
Neethlingshof Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Stellenbosch, R65pb
Simonsig Sunbird Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Stellenbosch, R60pb
Virgin Earth Pepper Tree Sauvignon Blanc 2012 from Du Plessis Family Wines – Langeberg-Garcia, R50pb

RUNNERS-UP

Clos Malverne Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Devon Valley, Stellenbosch, R84pb
D’Aria The Songbird Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Durbanville, R110pb
Durbanville Hills Biesjes Craal Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – R107pb
Ernst Gouws & Co Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Stellenbosch, R70pb
Lomond Sugarbush Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – Cape Agulhas, R110pb
Nederburg The Young Airhawk 2011 – Paarl, R90pb
Paul Cluver Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Elgin, R70pb
Pepin Conde Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from Stark-Conde – Jonkhershoek Valley, Stellenbosch, R75pb
Saronsberg Provenance Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Tulbagh, R65pb
Spice Route Sauvignon Blanc 2012 – Malmesbury, Swartland, R62pb

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