Warwick Estate Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc 2020
HANSCORE: 18/25
There is something unashamedly “Stellenbosch” about this wine. Big brand, heavy bottle, embossed label, fruit-forward.
And honestly, the unadulterated baller vibe kinda works for me. When it’s on the retail shelf, this unwooded Sauvignon Blanc reads like a bad-ass barrel-fermented private reserve something-something. When in reality, it is a modest tank-fermented Sauvignon Blanc. BUT in this instance, the “fake it till you make it” swagger of the whole product adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
Winemaker JD Pretorius has delivered a savvy bee that is about as serious as one can hope for, while still being an unwooded rendition that remains true to the warm climate that is Stellenbosch. It’s got lovely fullness on the palate, plenty of length, and a delightful granadilla tang that lingers quite nicely.
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👃🏼 Vanguard carries passion fruit, gooseberries, cut grass, chalk dust, and an ever so subtle hint of asparagus (on day three).
👄 The palate is fairly tropical, with hints of apricot acidity, some passion fruit references, lovely length. Lemon candy. Mouthfeel is pleasantly full for the genre. You’d be forgiven for thinking there was some Semillon in there, but there ain’t. The concentration on the palate may owe more to the fact that one of the blocks harvested for this wine is now 35 years old, delivering a hint of that old vine palate waxiness to the mix.
🔬 100% Sauvignon Blanc from Stellenbosch (up high in the Simonsberg). Crushed onto skins for 6 – 12 hours. Then tank-fermented. Aged on the lees for 100 days.
💸💸 ZAR120.00 (as of January 2021)
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