R1,770 - R2,400
2017 Spioenkop Riesling x 6 bottles 750ml
PLEASE NOTE THIS WINE IS IN JOHANNESBURG
This is one of Spioenkop’s signature wines and according to Tim Atkin consistently the best one in South Africa. Dry Alsace style. Aromatics of grape fruit and lime, and the palate is ‘tightly wound with punchy acidity and a very dry finish’ or ‘dense, pithy and wonderfully racy and pure’.
A qualified industrial engineer, “crazy Belgian” Koen learned to make wine at L’Avenir before embarking with his wife Lore on the long search for their own farm. Historically an apple growing region Elgin is now regarded as a premium vine growing area.
300m above sea level, at Spioenkop cooling sea breezes funnel down the valley which prolongs the growing period. Slopes are steep so no tractor can operate and there are 7 different soil structures on the farm. Each cultivar is planted on a different soil all of which are quite stony and make the vines work hard. Their first wines were bottled in 2010.
Grapes harvested in small 18kg boxes, one night in the cool store (3°C) and then destemmed and slightly crushed. Just 4 hours of skin-contact in a red fermenter and then immediately pressed in our stainless steel basket press. After 1 day of settlement, the juice fermented at 15°C during the whole month of March. Natural fermentation.
A celebratory nose of green limes with a whiff of salinity. A rapier sharp palate of limes and terrific bony skeletal texture. It’s like sucking any other Elgin Riesling through marble. A bony, brittle delight with endless citrussy length.
"You wouldn’t expect cool climate Riesling to excel at Spioenkop like it does, but when you consider the higher altitude vineyards and close proximity to the cold Atlantic Ocean, as well as the whole Elgin region being classified as second coolest on the Winkler climatic scale, then you begin to see how this temperamental grape has found a natural home in the valley. The 2017 Riesling is a beautifully aromatic expression brimming with notes of lime peel, honeysuckle, green apple, crunchy white peaches and delicate notes of kerosene and petrol rag over a limestone minerality. The palate shows a taut, powerful, exacting structure moulded around tart, crisp glassy lemon and lime acids but supported by a sleek mid-palate loaded with white peach, green apple, candied kumquats and crystalised green figs. Very Germanic in stature and expression, this wine must surely rank among the top Rieslings produced in South Africa. Drink now but absolutely no rush over the next 3 to 5+ years." - Greg Sherwood MW.
'Consistently the best Riesling in South Africa, this incredible, dry Alsace-style white is mineral, leesy and bright, with stone-sucking acidity, lots of extract and concentration and lime-like freshness. 2019-27.' – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2018, 95/100
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Room and Absentee Bids:| 1 to 10000: | 23% inc VAT* |
| 10001+: | 19.55% inc VAT* |
| 1 to 10000: | 23% inc VAT* |
| 10001+: | 19.55% inc VAT* |
