Fraser Gallop Estate 2009 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

The philosophy behind the Fraser Gallop Estate style of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is to make the best possible blend by combining the strengths of these two varieties, while taking advantages of the strengths of the sub-regions within Margaret River. We find Semillon is happiest around Wilyabrup, in northern part of Margaret River, whereas Sauvignon Blanc thrives in the cooler south of Karridale, and a blend of these two makes, in our opinion, the best wine. We harvest the grapes when their flavours are optimal while retaining elegant acidity and crisp crunchy flavours, and partial barrel fermentation provides texture and length to the wine.

Winemaker's Notes

Vintage 2009
The 2009 vintage was another exceptional one for Margaret River. A wet spring gave good soil moisture for the vines to draw on throughout the growing season and a cool start to summer allowed for a long, slow ripening process giving great flavour development across all varieties. The weather warmed up towards the end of December but still remained moderate with temperatures rarely exceeding 32°C. This allowed the fruit to steadily ripen under optimum conditions resulting in excellent fruit flavours, good acid levels and ripe tannins in the reds.

Winemaking Notes
This was the first year that the Semillon vines planted on the Estate produced fruit. It was hand-picked, cooled to 8°C overnight and subsequently whole bunch pressed. The balance of the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes were mechanically harvested in the cool hours of night and delivered promptly to the crush pad. The fruit was then de-stemmed, crushed and gently pumped through a must chiller, to drop the temperature to 8°C, minimising any oxidation of the fruit. From the must chiller, the fruit went straight into our airbag press utilising the automatic Ortal computerised pressing program. The quality of pressing was superb with minimal rotations of the press, resulting in pristine juice. The juice was then fermented in stainless steel tanks to maintain the freshness, bright fruit flavours and aromatics. A small proportion of both the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc were fermented in new and one year old French oak barriques which adds to the complexity, structure and length of flavour in the wine. Sulphites were added to the wine on completion of fermentation to deter Malolactic Fermentation from occurring and to preserve the fruit flavours of the wine. The wine was protein and cold stabilised prior to blending, cross flow filtering and bottling.

Colour

Pale straw in colour with green hues.

Nose

The trademark aromas of cumquat, Tahitian lime and lemongrass dominate the nose with hints of passionfruit and wet stone also apparent.

Palate

The crisp linear acid backbone provided by the Semillon is a feature of this wine and it is nicely balanced by creamy lemon curd like flavours coming from the barrel fermented portion of the wine. Flavours of tropical fruits, lemongrass and oyster shell marry together to create a harmonised yet complex palate, and the oak provides mouth-feel and gives a lovely long finish leaving you wanting more.