The results of the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards were made public on 29 May 2018 and the Strandveld Vineyards team is very proud to announce that the much loved First Sighting Sauvignon Blanc 2017 was awarded a Platinum medal and scored 97 points. Considered by some to be the best wine show in the world, the 2018 competition received just under 17 000 entries from around the world. Only 149 Platinum medals were awarded this year of which 5 went to South African wines. It is an incredible honour for the First Sighting Sauvignon Blanc 2017 to be amongst this esteemed selection.
This popular Sauvignon Blanc from the Elim wine ward was the first wine produced from vineyards at Africa’s southernmost winery and still stands proudly as the most popular in the range. It is an excellent expression of the cool climate, maritime influence and extreme terroir at the continent’s southern tip and an enticing combination of flavours created from the four distinctive gravel soil types at Strandveld Vineyards.
The 2017 vintage was a particularly good one with moderate conditions leading up to and during harvest resulting in excellently balanced and full flavoured wines. Grapes to make this wine are harvested over a three week period from a selection of vineyards aging between 13 and 15 years. In the cellar, after a long cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks the various components are aged on yeast lees for 6 months before the final blend is made up including a touch of Semillon for additional complexity and mouthfeel.
Winemaker, Conrad Vlok, who is ecstatic about this fantastic accolade, says “Now at one year after harvest this wine is really starting to open and fully reflect the terroir and it will get even better over the next 12 to 18 months. You can now start picking up the typical fresh sea breeze salinity and the complexity of the fruit flavours.”
