Luddite Saboteur White Blend 2017

Story

2015 was the maiden vintage of the Saboteur White blend, created to partner the successful Saboteur Red blend. In 1999 Niels and Penny Verburg established their own wine farm on the slopes of the Houw Hoek Mountains in Bot River. They named their farm Luddite, meaning ‘someone who is resistant to new technology or new ways of working’. This definition captures their winemaking philosophy perfectly as Niels is constantly striving to create perfect wines despite the challenging conditions thrown his way. Niels and his team at Luddite are incredibly passionate about their Shiraz and are never willing to compromise on quality. This dedication translates into consciously-farmed grapes and small-batch wines that have amazing character. The current release is a blend of 77% Chenin Blanc, 14% Viognier and 9% Sauvignon Blanc, the first two components skin fermented for up to 18 days and the latter barrel fermented and matured to “get rid of as much varietal character as possible”. The Chenin Blanc was fermented naturally on the skins for a period of 6 to 18 days. The Viognier came in later and was fermented for 12 days on skins. The Blanc Fumé portion was fermented in barrel and batonaged to get rid of as much Sauvignon Blanc characteristics as possible. All the components spent 6 months in old French Oak barrels. At no stage was anything added to this wine. This was then racked and made up the blend and the only time they added SO2 was to protect the wine for the bottling process. The 17 Saboteur White Blend shows a pale straw colour with a hint of lime green. The nose shows white peaches, cinnamon spice and citrus blossom, whilst the palate shows some citrus bonbon with a textured mid pallet of ripe green plums, with a long, balanced finish. Goes extremely well with spicy dishes: mild curries and Thai cuisine!!  

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