Archimedes, that famous Greek mathematician, (according to legend), was elegantly reclining in his marble bathtub, on a vine shadowed patio overlooking ancient Athens and a sparkling sapphire coloured Aegean Sea. He took a slow and delicate sip of a newly arrived wine from the land of the Gauls. Eureka! he exclaimed on savouring this fragrant amalgamation of the wine makers skill……….fast forward a few thousand years, to a secret winery, called Lords, nestled between the beautiful snow capped Riviersonderend Mountains, in the Breede Valley of the Western Cape.
Sitting on the veranda, looking out over immaculately pruned vineyards with Jacie Oosterhuizen, founder and the creative wine maker of Lords Wines contemplating the elegant Blue Cranes, dancing an elaborate courtship dance……..Aah bliss, as I took my first whiff of a delicate aromatic, green tinged masterpiece that Jaci had just opened……Lords Sauvignon Blanc 2019.
After the initial, powerful sensory experience on the nose, I took my first languorous sip, Eureka, this was something out of the ordinary! Exotic tropical fruits, immediately rolled across the palate, with a delicate crispness. The next instant, was a lush grassiness which lifted my experience to an entirely new level…….this was a Sauv Blanc like nothing that I had ever experienced. The long, lingering, aftertaste was an entirely new experience for me. Jaci, who had been studying me intensely, broke out in a beaming smile as he watched the various ecstatic expressions on my face……..roaring with laughter, I immediately stated that he had “hit me for a six and knocked me out of the grounds” with this magnificent wine.
When Jaci starts explaining how he created this masterpiece, you listen carefully, as it is a treatise on the winemaker’s creative skills. He then took me for a walk up the slopes of the mountain to show me the 13 year old vines, just showing the first green shoots of early spring, solidly rooted in the mineral rich, rocky soil. The view up there was breath taking. Jaci then explained the cold maceration by allowing 24 hours skin contact to extract maximum flavour and colour, which explains the wines beautiful flinty green hue. The grapes, importantly, were gently hand harvested, in two stages, to ensure the fruit was unspoilt and retained maximum quality and balance.
It was time to leave and after tucking into some of the delicious Stonehouse Ash Camembert which was a perfect foil to this magnificent wine, I took a slow meander back to McGregor, feeling and knowing that I had experienced something very special. Well done Jacie and team.
