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Sijnn

2020

White

White Blend   |   Malgas - South Africa
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

The Sijnn White blend joins the ranks alongside the likes of Thorne & Daughters ‘Rocking Horse‘ as one of South Africa’s most interesting white blends. The fruit hails from the Sijnn estate vineyards in Malgas, home to some of South Africa’s wildest terroir. Located just 10 miles as the crow flies from the ocean, down a long and winding 25-mile dirt road, the vineyards sit atop iron-rich red riverstone galets over blue shale. The bushvines are low-yielding in this rugged climate, and while it can get hot here in the summer, cooling northeasterly winds almost always prevent temperatures above 85 degrees F. The 2020 vintage was one of the earliest starts they had seen and one of the driest growing seasons with a record low of 7.8 inches of rainfall in 2019.

The fruit was handpicked and sorted in the vineyard. Sixty percent was whole-bunch pressed, with the remaining 40% crushed and pressed. The juice was barrel fermented in 400 and 700L French oak barrels (about 10% new). Aging occurred for 11 months on the gross lees in fermentation barrels before being racked to tank for a light bentonite fining. It was bottled unfiltered and by hand with just a small dosage of sulfur.

Stats

  • Grapes: 78% Chenin blanc - 9% Roussanne - 7% Viognier - 6% Verdelho
  • Vineyard: Sijnn Estate
  • Vine Age: 18-years old (Chenin Blanc) – 15-years-old (Viognier) – 12-years-old (Roussanne) – 6-years-old (Verdelho)
  • Soil Type: Red, round galets over shale
  • Viticulture: Practicing organic
  • Fermentation: Native – barrel fermented in 400L & 700L used French barrels (60% whole-cluster)
  • Skin Contact: None
  • Aging: 11 months on gross lees in fermentation vessels
  • Alcohol: 14.5%
  • Residual Sugar: 2.9 g/L
  • pH: 3.19
  • Total Acidity: 6.3 g/L
  • Total SO2: 64 ppm
  • Total Production: 440 cases
  • UPC: 676814001931

Tasting Notes

A nose of dried rosemary, honey, peach, and rising dough give way to a richly textured palate. Flavors of stone fruits, beeswax, and dried white flowers emerge on a zesty frame decorated with very finely integrated oak. The finish is long and enticing.

Press & Reviews

The WineMag

93

"78% Chenin Blanc, 9% Roussanne, 7% Viognier and 6% Verdelho. Top notes of potpourri and dried herbs before orange, stone fruit and some leesy character. The palate is rich and thick textured – unrestrained and deeply flavoured. Dense fruit and tangy acidity combine to provide a sweet ‘n sour drinking experience, some spice to the finish."

- Christian Eedes

Tim Atkin, MW

94

"This is the second vintage of the Sijnn white to include a little Verdelho, complementing
the core of 78% Chenin Blanc and its Viognier and Roussanne partners. Zesty, focused and complex, it conveys some of the dryness and stony wildness of the site, with lots of structure and focus and notes of honeysuckle, peach and beeswax. 2022-28."

- Tim Atkin, MW

James Suckling

92

"Aromas of baked pears, sliced green apples, poppy seed, dried herbs and fresh cotton. Medium-bodied with an oily texture. Layered with lees complexity and rounded apple and peach fruit. Crushed stone, too. Sustainable. Drink now."

- James Suckling

Producer


Sijnn

Region


Malgas

Country


South Africa

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