Diemersdal Launches First Wine under new Wine of Origin Cape Town Label

Diemersdal Estate has released its first wine under the newly-established Wine of Origin Cape Town label. The Eight Rows Sauvignon Blanc 2017, a premier wine in Diemersdal’s Sauvignon Blanc range, is also one of the first South African wines to bear the WO Origin Cape Town address, heralding a new era for the regional dispensation of the Cape wine industry.

The Wine of Origin District named after Cape Town, one of the world’s foremost tourism brands, was recently approved by the South African Wine and Spirit Board. This ground-breaking move aimed at elevating the profile of South African wine through a direct association to Cape Town unites the wine wards of Constantia, Durbanville, Philadelphia and Hout Bay under the inclusive name Wine of Origin Cape Town.

According to Thys Louw, cellar master of Diemersdal, the new wine district of Cape Town will allow the region’s producers to capitalise on the global recognition Cape Town has achieved as an international tourist destination and sought-after lifestyle brand.

“Places like Constantia and Durbanville have been established wine producing areas for centuries,” says Louw. “But despite this, Cape Town remains the most well-known geographic brand name in South Africa. Through the direct association with Cape Town, its international profile and buzzing tourist activities, the region‘s wineries will bring the local wine industry to the forefront. This will achieve a greater awareness for the Cape and South African wine industry as a whole and heralds a new chapter for us all.”

Diemersdal’s Eight Rows Sauvignon Blanc, one of South Africa’s icon wines made from the variety in which this estate specialises, is an apt wine to launch Diemersdal’s association with Wine of Origin Cape Town. Literally made from grapes grown on eight rows of an old vineyard on the farm, Eight Rows has won numerous local and international accolades. The 2016 vintage, for example, achieved a five star rating in the respected Platter’s Wine Guide.

“I am very pleased that this 2017 Sauvignon Blanc was ready to lead Diemersdal foray into the exciting Wine of Origin Cape Town movement,” says Louw. “It has always been a highly regarded Sauvignon Blanc, and will do justice to the reputation of a wine bottled under Wine of Origin Cape Town.”

Cellar master Thys Louw

The vines for the Eight Rows grow on decomposed granite and clay soils found on the estate’s south-facing slopes where the effects of the nearby Atlantic Ocean are felt.

Like all vineyards on Diemersdal, the Eight Rows is from dryland vineyard. “This was the first vineyard I worked with when I came to farm at Diemersdal in 2005,” says Louw, “and since then I have been convinced that for top-quality Sauvignon Blanc, dryland farming in cool climate conditions delivers South Africa’s best wine from this variety.”

The grapes were night harvested at 23.5ºB, crushed and de-stemmed reductively. Skin contact of 24 hours was given where after the juice was pressed and settled for 36 hours. Fermentation took place over three weeks at temperature controlled to 12-14ºC.

Post-fermentation lees contact of five months was given, the lees stirred up once a week to enhance mouth feel and concentration. The wine was bottled unfiltered and sediment may occur after time.

Louw describes the wine as intense with concentrated aromas on the nose and complex flavours on the palate. The wine shows a strong core of minerality, from the flinty elegance on the nose and the bright expression on the palate. A rounded mouth-feel exudes nectarine and Kiwi-fruit, balanced with fresh acidity on the finish.

“All-in-all a seamless wine where all the components are in balance – this being the most important word in the wine maker’s lexicon,” says Louw. “We are proud to introduce this wine to the world through Wine of Origin Cape Town.”