HOT SUMMER, COOL SAUVVIES

Whether you’re toasting the sunset or pairing it with fish on the braai, these cool-climate sauvvies will leave you smiling…

Tokara Reserve Collection Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2018

This is one of just three sauvignon blancs to claim a coveted five-star rating in the 2020 Platter’s Guide. Though Tokara’s cellar, and many of its vineyards, overlooks the Stellenbosch winelands, the grapes for this wine were drawn from its vineyards on Highlands farm in the cooler Elgin valley.

“The Reserve Collection Sauvignon Blanc from Elgin is a beacon of all things cool-climate, with fresh aromas of gooseberry, lime peel and blackcurrant leaf,” says winemaker Stuart Botha.

It’s drinking nicely right now, but if you can bear to hold onto a few bottles the zippy acidity ensures it’ll keep improving over the next decade.

Trizanne Signature Wines Sondagskloof Blanc Fumé 2018

Another five-star winner in the new Platter’s was Trizanne Barnard, who turned to cool-climate vineyards in the Sondagskloof region beyond Hermanus for her winning wine.

“I decided to make the sauvignon blanc like a red wine,” says Trizanne, who fermented the juice on the grape skins, before ageing the wine in oak barrels. Blanc fumé is a term coined by iconic American winemaker Robert Mondavi in the 1960s to indicate that the wine has been aged in barrels, not steel tanks as are more commonly used.

“A new wine from a new region for the talented Trizanne Barnard, this is a wonderful sauvignon blanc,” enthused wine critic Tim Atkin in his latest report on South African wines. “Right up there with the most complex examples of the variety in South Africa.”

Diemersdal Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019

Acclaimed Durbanville producer Diemersdal looked even further afield for their latest sauvignon blanc release, travelling all the way to the famed vineyards of Dillons Point on New Zealand’s South Island.

Here Diemersdal winemaker Thys Louw teamed up with Ben Glover from Glover Family Vineyards to craft this wine packed full of Marlborough’s characteristic tropical notes of granadilla, gooseberry and – yes, of course – kiwi fruit.

“The Dillons Point area of Marlborough is renowned for producing stunning pungent wines of power, finesse and vibrancy,” says Thys. “If you taste a wine made in that part of the world, you know you’re tasting Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. And for Diemersdal it’s a great honour to be able to present this to South African wine drinkers who have already made sauvignon blanc the Twenty country’s most popular varietal wine.”