2020 The Black Swan Sauvignon Blanc

Full bottle 1,358 g. Blend of the top two Sauvignon Blanc vineyards on Steenberg and a selection of the best fruit. Yield: seven tonnes per hectare. Destemmed, crushed and left on skins for 18 hours at very cold temperatures. Juice settled for two days before slow, cold fermentation. On lees for nine months before being stabilised and bottled in November 2020. Synthetic cork. TA 5.4 g/l, pH 3.5, RS 2.1 g/l. Pale lemon. Notably spicy style with a dusty overtone. Underlying that is the fruit that’s already taking on asparagus and tinned-pea notes suggesting development, which is a bit surprising for a comparatively young wine. Zingy and fresh, and there’s plenty of flavour depth and chew to go at, but – subjectively at least – I’m not a big fan of that aged asparagus greenness. (TJ)