Constantia Glen - Vintage Report - Glen Alpine Sauvignon Blanc wine Cape Town South Africa

French

The first grapes for our 2007 Sauvignon Blanc were harvested on the 14th of February 2007. A critical decision had to be made whether to harvest the grapes one week prior to this date as the weather forecast had predicted a lot of rain. But our Brix levels and flavour development were still too low and harvesting the grapes would have necessitated an interventionist approach to making the wine. In the end, our decision to wait until after the rain proved to be the best option as we only received 12mm of rain (less than the rest of the Constantia Valley).

The grapes took up this water quite quickly and transpiration was enhanced by moderate winds and sunny days. After waiting for the expected increase in both sugar and flavour we began harvesting on the morning of the 14th of February. The bunches were hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard before being carefully placed into specially designed carrying crates.

These crates were delivered to the winery and immediately placed into our refrigeration room. Here the grapes were brought down to 5 degrees Celsius overnight and crushed the next morning. We harvested on two successive days, both cool and slightly overcast.		This year, the harvest date coincided with the picking date in 2005 and represents a cool and lengthy ripening period for the grapes. This means that the time available for the creation and fixing of flavour precursors was extensive and this allows for the creation of a site expressive wine. The weather preceding the harvest was generally cool with average maximum temperatures of below 26.5 and only two days over 30 degrees Celsius.