WINSOME WHITES FOR LATE SUMMER SIPPING
Since the start of the year , many white wines have come my way. Nearly all of them were quaffable, some were boring, a few were wildly acidic and several were pleasant, if forgettable. Then there were a few that were good to the point you didn’t want to finish them…
SPRINGFIELD ESTATE MISS LUCY 2014
This maiden white blend in its attractive, tissue-wrapped screwcapped bottle with its fishy label instantly transported me down the long drive to the Springfield cellars and lakeside tasting room just outside Robertson.
Twelve years in the making before Miss Lucy was ready to be presented to the world, the blend was produced from grapes especially planted for this purpose. Over the following decade several vineyards were uprooted and replaced before the maiden harvest. Four years of ageing and blending in the cellar followed before results were considered to be the perfect partner to a beautiful just-braaied red Stumpnose, both to be savoured preferably at the seaside.
For Miss Lucy is one of seven nicknames given to the delicious, and now, sadly endangered species that fishermen love to catch along the Cape southern coast. For Abrie Bruwer and his family, summer holidays were always beach holidays, where daily fishing produced the supper braai . The memories that those weeks engendered are dear to the Bruwers, and this’ summer in a bottle’, as Abrie calls it, was created as an ode to the bounty of our ocean. The farm’s renowned sauvignon blanc grapes (46%) are blended with 35% semillon and 19% pinot gris into a dry, crisp wine with discernible structure, offering a racy mouthfeel . The explosion of grapefruit that follows fills the palate with citrus zing. Any grilled or fried white fish would be hugely enhanced by this companion. Best enjoyed on board or at the beach, but make sure you have a few bottles to pair with your seafood over Easter. R90 from farm.
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