2011 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
Dragon Fly - 2011 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
Blend:
62% Sauvignon Blanc, 33% Semillon, 5% Chenin Blanc
Region:
Willow Bridge Estate, Geographe, WA
Bottled:
August 2011
Release Date:
October 2011
Technical Data:
- Alcohol 12.5%vol
- Total Acidity 6.3gm/lt
- pH 3.2
- Residual Sugar 2gm/lt
Winemaker:
Simon Burnell and Jane Dunkley
Winemakers Notes:
~ Style ~
A refreshing mouthful of tropical fruits.~Background~
Dry white blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon have their traditional home in Bordeaux on the south-western coast of France. Over the past few decades, the south-western regions of Western Australia have arguably claimed these blends as their own, primarily in a clean, fruit driven, refreshing style. This Dragonfly SBS has been cool-fermented in stainless steel tanks in order to preserve and highlight the intensity of fresh tropical and citrus fruits and fragrant herbs that are the regional signatures of these varieties. A small portion (around 5%) of the blend was fermented in a combination of new and seasoned French oak barrels to add further aromatic complexity and a build some creamy texture into the palate.
~Facts and Figures ~
The season: Unlike the rest of the country, 2011 was another magnificent vintage in the Ferguson Valley - our fifth in a row. Post vintage 2010 we saw our regularly calm, mild and sunny autumn last until......summer came along again. 2010 was thus the driest year for a century or more in much of the area. Our normally clockwork-like winter and spring cold fronts generally bypassed us to dump on the south-eastern states they had been avoiding for the last few years. The growing season to veraison (grape puberty where they start to soften and reds become...red) therefore saw some reduction in disease pressure, vegetal growth and potential yield versus the ‘average’ year. January 2011 delivered two unseasonal rainfall injections of an inch or so each. With twenty days of dry and sunny weather in between them, they couldn’t have been better timed. Just when we thought that the worm may have had turned and we may be harvesting from canoes like some of our eastern-states brethren, Australia Day onwards saw the start of another record spell, with local stations recording up to 90% of days to the end of February over 30 degrees. The absence of any nasty spikes above 37 degrees meant that most varieties ripened quickly and in good condition, but all at once. Whilst the vines and grapes suffered very little stress, the people involved in vintage certainly did, with our last red picked on the 25th of March breaking our previous record early finish by three days.
Vineyards : The lion's share of both varieties were estate grown on our 'Forest' Sauvignon and 'Adele' Semillon blocks planted in 1997 on classic freedraining WA "Marri soil" (a deep layer of ironstone gravely loam over reddish friable clay). The Sauvignon with a south-westerly and the Semillon a north-easterly aspect. All vines are spur pruned and vertically trellised.
~Tasting Notes ~
Appearance: Pale straw with hints of green.
Nose: Some pretty florals and musk overlie some really ripe passionfruit characters - with some of those powerfully aromatic tropical fruits you only smell and taste in Asia and can never remember the names of when you get home.
Palate: More textural - dense and creamy - than most of the other SW WA versions. It is almost chewy to begin, but fines out and a twist of citrussy acidity cleanses the palate and draws out the finish.
Cellaring: It is best enjoyed as a young wine - within two years of vintage - when its vibrant aromatics and clean, fresh fruits are at their most expressive.
