{"id":9476,"date":"2016-10-28T19:03:26","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T17:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfi-global-staging.com\/topwineold\/?p=9476"},"modified":"2021-01-25T17:55:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T15:55:44","slug":"champion-status-for-durbanville-sauvignon-for-the-time-being-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfi-global-staging.com\/topwineold\/2016\/10\/champion-status-for-durbanville-sauvignon-for-the-time-being-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion status for Durbanville Sauvignon \u2013 for the time being anyway!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"nitida_goldenorb_2015_withreflection-label-tweaked-smaller\"<\/a>

New flagship Sauvignon of Durbanville<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

IT'S NOT that the district of Darling \u2013 including\u00a0the Groenekloof ward \u2013\u00a0is no longer the source of good Sauvignon Blanc. A number of top wineries outside the area continue to source some of the fruit for some of their wines from Darling \u2013 KWV of Paarl, for example, produces a particularly fine Sauvignon\u00a0from Darling grapes under The Mentors label. But as regards those cellars in the district, Ormonde is the only one that's had significant\u00a0success with Sauvignon Blanc on a consistent basis of late\u00a0\u2013 in part with their ‘Chip off the Old Block' and Ondine\u00a0lines. Most deserving of the crown as champion Sauvignon Blanc territory in the Cape today is Durbanville\u00a0\u2013 maybe not as many successful Sauvignon wines as those on sale at Stellenbosch wine farms, but a much better hit rate.<\/p>\n

Compared to around 170 cellars in Stellenbosch of which perhaps as many as 20 have a reputation for great Sauvignon, there are no more than a dozen\u00a0or so wineries on the Durbanville wine route yet\u00a0virtually\u00a0all of them are guaranteed to hit the spot with any of their various wines made using this variety.\u00a0Pound for pound, Durbanville's main rival these days when it comes to South Africa's premier Sauvignon Blanc vineyards tends to be Elgin. The top-notch\u00a0Reserve Sauvignon of Tokara in Stellenbosch is made from fruit that is trucked across the mountain from Elgin, with notables\u00a0among the Sauvignon Blanc producers located\u00a0in the Elgin basin including Almenkerk, Highlands Road, Iona, Paul Cluver and Shannon. The Cape Peninsula and Cape Agulhas come into the reckoning too, of course, however there's sound justification for the Durbanville folk\u00a0making such a fuss about their annual Season of Sauvignon festival.<\/p>\n

There are only a handful of Sauvignons in the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Graham Beck Pheasants' Run is one of them\u00a0\u2013 Robertson cellar, Durbanville grapes (from Phizante Kraal), and you might well wonder what's to become of the label after GB announced that they're going to focus exclusively on bubbly. Another in the Hall of Fame is Diemersdal Eight Rows \u2013 from a specialist Sauvignon Blanc producer in Durbanville with five or six different expressions of the grape on their winelist. Six of the Top 20 (three of the Top 10) in the SA Sauvignon Blanc Classification<\/a><\/span><\/strong> are Durbanville wines. And to see what has been getting good reviews this year and last, click here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

New on the block? Nitida's Golden Orb, positioned as their flagship at R280pb for the 2015 vintage. Very good, according to the judges of the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc\u00a0Top 10 competition who chose it as one of the trophy winners, although some might query the story behind\u00a0the choice of name and the illustration on the label of a spider and her web in a protea bush…<\/p>\n

DURBANVILLE'S TOP SAUVIGNON CELLARS IN 2016<\/h4>\n

D'Aria<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Songbird is a must according to Veritas
\nDe Grendel\u00a0\u2013 <\/strong>some regard Koetshuis to be among the best in the land
\nDiemersdal\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 MM Louw and the Reserve ticking most boxes, as does Eight Rows
\nDurbanville Hills\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Rhinofields being top of the range
\nKlein Roosboom<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the Reserve is the one to go for
\nMaastricht\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 only white from a red wine specialist
\nNitida<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Golden Orb and The Wild Child, need one say more?
\nPhizante Kraal<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 and about to pick up where Pheasants' Run left off?<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT’S NOT that the district of Darling \u2013 including\u00a0the Groenekloof ward \u2013\u00a0is no longer the source of good Sauvignon Blanc. A number of top wineries outside the area continue to source some of the fruit for some of their wines from Darling \u2013 KWV of Paarl, for example, produces a particularly fine Sauvignon\u00a0from Darling grapes under The Mentors label. But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2217,1904,1825],"tags":[2223,1716,957,1030,1090,1048,2375,1669,1203,847,849,783,1044,774],"class_list":["post-9476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2217","category-cellar-ratings","category-wine-ratings","tag-2223","tag-daria","tag-de-grendel","tag-diemersdal","tag-durbanville","tag-durbanville-hills","tag-klein-roosboom","tag-maastricht","tag-nitida","tag-phizante-kraal","tag-sa","tag-sauvignon-blanc","tag-south-africa","tag-wine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t