ANDRE VAN RENSBERG Sauvignon Blanc Semillon White Blend 2021
- SKU:
- 4131735
- UPC:
- 2310060476959
André van Rensburg has been the winemaker at Vergelegen in Stellenbosch since 1998. That iconic South African estate is owned by a mining company called Anglo American, who have a policy obliging their employees to retire on their 60th birthday. André clearly doesn’t intend to retire from winemaking though, which is why he has launched two new wines using grapes from the best plots on the Vergelegen farm.
Sauvignon Blanc is André van Rensburg’s signature white grape variety, so this first vintage comes highly anticipated. But be warned, this isn’t a simple, quaffing-style Sauvignon Blanc, it’s a very serious, barrel-fermented, Bordeaux-inspired, artisan white wine. And it has clearly impressed this critic and Master of Wine…
96 points, “This very impressive maiden release is a blend of 86% Sauvignon Blanc but also features a 14% splash of Semillon for some extra salt and pepper complexity and mid-palate textural finesse… This is a very serious barrel-fermented example in the style of top white Bordeaux expressions that is approachable now but will undoubtedly benefit from further maturation of up to a decade or more in the cellar. In the glass, the aromatics are packed with apple blossom, ruby grapefruit, citrus lemon, crunchy green apple, savoury gooseberry, fresh dill and tantalising touches of lemongrass and tangerine peel. But it’s on the palate where the true class and pedigree of André’s winemaking is revealed, boasting a concentrated, energy packed mouthful bursting with tangy gooseberry, lemon oil, crystallised ginger and lemongrass spice underpinned by a dusty, granitic crushed gravel minerality. The texture is super compact and dense, glycerol and mouth coating with just the most subtle hints of vanilla oak spice, a lick of lanolin, lime leaf and a spine-tingling acidity on the finish. This is certainly one of the finest Sauvignon-Semillon blends I have tasted in the past several years. Chapeau André!” – Greg Sherwood MW
Richard Kelly is another Master of Wine and the brains behind the much-love brand, The Liberator. He considers André van Rensburg to be “the greatest winemaker in the world”, so don’t miss out on the inaugural vintage of such an exciting new venture.
SKU No.: 4131735
Style No.: 952927
Region: Stellenbosch
Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc,Semillon
Closure: Cork
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 13.86%
Volume: 750ml
Allergens: Sulphites
André van Rensburg has been the winemaker at Vergelegen in Stellenbosch since 1998. That iconic South African estate is owned by a mining company called Anglo American, who have a policy obliging their employees to retire on their 60th birthday. André clearly doesn’t intend to retire from winemaking though, which is why he has launched two new wines using grapes from the best plots on the Vergelegen farm.
Sauvignon Blanc is André van Rensburg’s signature white grape variety, so this first vintage comes highly anticipated. But be warned, this isn’t a simple, quaffing-style Sauvignon Blanc, it’s a very serious, barrel-fermented, Bordeaux-inspired, artisan white wine. And it has clearly impressed this critic and Master of Wine…
96 points, “This very impressive maiden release is a blend of 86% Sauvignon Blanc but also features a 14% splash of Semillon for some extra salt and pepper complexity and mid-palate textural finesse… This is a very serious barrel-fermented example in the style of top white Bordeaux expressions that is approachable now but will undoubtedly benefit from further maturation of up to a decade or more in the cellar. In the glass, the aromatics are packed with apple blossom, ruby grapefruit, citrus lemon, crunchy green apple, savoury gooseberry, fresh dill and tantalising touches of lemongrass and tangerine peel. But it’s on the palate where the true class and pedigree of André’s winemaking is revealed, boasting a concentrated, energy packed mouthful bursting with tangy gooseberry, lemon oil, crystallised ginger and lemongrass spice underpinned by a dusty, granitic crushed gravel minerality. The texture is super compact and dense, glycerol and mouth coating with just the most subtle hints of vanilla oak spice, a lick of lanolin, lime leaf and a spine-tingling acidity on the finish. This is certainly one of the finest Sauvignon-Semillon blends I have tasted in the past several years. Chapeau André!” – Greg Sherwood MW
Richard Kelly is another Master of Wine and the brains behind the much-love brand, The Liberator. He considers André van Rensburg to be “the greatest winemaker in the world”, so don’t miss out on the inaugural vintage of such an exciting new venture.
SKU No.: 4131735
Style No.: 952927