De Grendel's Three Styles of Sauvignon Blanc

With February being the hottest month in the Winelands and Sauvignon Blanc consumption skyrocketing during this time, we’ve put together a few interesting titbits about this well-loved grape variety.

Did you know?

Sauvignon is the 5th most planted wine grape variety in South Africa
It is the most-consumed varietal wine in South Africa
More than 24 million bottles of Sauvignon Blanc are enjoyed on the local market annually

Sauvignon Blanc originates from Bordeaux in France, but is also highly successful in New Zealand, South Africa and Chile. It is well known to be expressive and can produce a bouquet of different aromas and flavours. You might have heard about descriptors such as grassy, capsicum and lemon-grass flavours or perhaps pungent granadilla, guava and tropical fruits. Or what about asparagus, gunflint or salty?

This multi-dimensional variety can deliver the most satisfying and mouth-filling of palates, depending on the region, temperatures, soil and vineyard management. It is a sensitive grape that is completely reliant on cool, moderate growing conditions with a maritime influence, which makes De Grendel the perfect location to grow Sauvignon Blanc.

All our Sauvignon Blanc is planted on the Western slope of the Tygerberg which overlooks and is influenced by the cold Atlantic Ocean, while the grapes for our Koetshuis are sourced from 4 different blocks from Darling, Lutzville and De Grendel.

Our premium Sauvignon Blanc is an easy-drinking wine with aromas of Cape gooseberry and granadilla, while the Koetshuis is more complex with a wood component and well-suited to food, making it stylistically very different to our premium Sauvignon Blanc.

The De Grendel Noble Late Harvest shows just how versatile Sauvignon Blanc can be. To produce this wine, we leave an isolated area of Sauvignon Blanc vineyards behind a windbreak of trees for a build-up of moisture and heat. This creates the ideal conditions to induce the growth of the botrytis cinerea fungus, which gives Noble Late Harvest it’s distinct characteristics to create one of the world’s favourite dessert wines.