Lourensford Eden Crest Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay

3 (and a 1/4 slash 1/2) stars

Tonight was a night for blends, in addition to the great blend from Havana Hills, I also had the chance to enjoy some of a bottle of Lourensford Eden Crest Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay 2007.

And what a lovely wine it is, with quite a lot of colour for a white blend, underlining the chardonnay in the blend. I'm a huge fan of chardonnay (although, like the unsophisticated palate I am, I prefer it wooded so even my tongue can taste the rounding butterscotch caramel tones of a good chardonnay) and enjoy it immensely, and this blend is well put together.

Being a wine from Lourensford, I expected the price to be a little steep, but one of the people at the table said its retailing for R19 at Checkers. This HAS to be some sort of mistake; but if it isn't buy as much as you can.

Surprisingly for a white, the bottle is VERY clear that the ageing potential is one year MAX, so if it is so cheap at Checkers, it may have something to do with that. From my vantage point, the wine tastes good and is ready to drink TODAY! If its R19 a bottle so be it... a little birdie tells me even restaurants aren't getting it from the distributors for so cheap, so grab at it while it lasts.

I've never drunk Eden Crest before, and if this is Lourensford's value wine, then it is a good one. So often cheap/value white wine's can be too acidic, but this wine avoids being too acidic without sacrificing itself on the alter of sweetness; for a white wine drinker who wants a fairly dry wine without too much acid at a value price, you could do a LOT worse.

For me, I just want to buy a couple more bottles and see how I feel about it, after a few more bottles on a few more occasions. I think it exceeds the grade of a midweek wine, I wouldn't drink it in the day time, I think its deserving of an ice bucket.

The 2007 is obviously not up to the same as the 2006 detailed below (the 2007 is a new release, and they haven't updated the website) , because the bottle is quite firm in its recommendation that it shouldn't be kept for longer than a year after vintage. Obviously they've gone for developing a little more of a 'plonk' in 2007, but I think the vintage is great as it is, and if the price is to be believed, a real steal. Something to buy a case of to see through the summer.

Details:
Eden Crest Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay
Vintage: 2006

Cultivar: 51% Sauvignon blanc, 46% Chardonnay (2005 and 2006), 3% Viognier (2005)

Altitude: 100 500m above sea level

Age of vines: 5 - 10 years

Origin: Grapes from Lourensford and Lanzerac.

Soil: Situated on a variety of soils derived from decomposed granite and sandstone.

Harvesting: Harvest analyses: Sugar 23.5 24.5°B, Total Acidity 6 - 7 g/l, pH 3.4

Harvest date: Harvested in February and March 2005 and 2006.

Vinification: All grapes were sorted for quality after arrival at the winery. De-stemming and crushing followed after which the mash was conveyed to the presses. Light pressing followed and the juice was settled overnight at 15°C. The clarified juice was racked to a fermentation tank where it was inoculated with a selected yeast strain. Alcoholic fermentation was carried out between 13 to 15C and the process took 3 weeks to complete. The final components were blended together after tasting trials were conducted.

Analysis:

Alcohol: 13.5 vol%
Residual sugar 3.76 g/l

Total acidity: 5.72 g/l

pH: 3.76

Cellarmaster's Comments: The wine has a light, straw-yellow colour. Citrus and tropical aromas charachterize the nose. The palate is mineral and smooth with a refreshing crispness.
Serving Suggestions:Serve between 13 and 15°C with salads and cold meats

Maturation Potential: Enjoy up to 3 years after the vintage.