2023 Vergelegen Estate White
£23.00
“Previously sold as GVB, the revamped Estate White combines Semillon and 49% Sauvignon Blanc, all sourced from the farm. Fermented and aged in larger foudres and 20% new oak, this reflects what Luke O’Cuinneagain learnt as a young intern at Château de Fieuzal in Bordeaux, with aromas of honeysuckle and gunflint, stylish oak spices and a palate of beeswax, subtle herbs, toast and pink grapefruit.”
95 Points, Tim Atkin MW
56% Sémillon, 44% Sauvignon Blanc. From south-east-facing vineyards overlooking the Atlantic ocean.
“An exceptionally elegant wine which only convinces me even more that South Africa’s Sémillon/Sauvignon blends have the potential to be right up there with not only South Africa’s Chenin but with some of the greatest white wines in the world. Poise with weight, gravitas with raciness. Fills the spaces with crushed stones, pomelo, tarragon, lime peel, green apples, dill. Mouth-watering. A wine with presence and substance and grace. I’d love to taste this blind alongside of some top Graves and, also, Assyrtiko. I just think this is the kind of white wine that would go beautifully with roast lamb.”
17.5/20 Tamlyn Currin for Jancis Robinson MW
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Product Description
Few wine estates anywhere can rival the history of Vergelegen. It was founded on 1 February 1700 by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, then Governor of the Cape, who gave it a name meaning “situated far away”, a fitting description of its remote position beneath the Hottentots Holland mountains near Somerset West. Over more than three centuries it has been shaped by a succession of explorers, visionaries and grand owners, among them the mining magnate Sir Lionel Phillips, who bought it in 1917. Its gracious homestead, camphor trees and eighteen celebrated gardens make it one of South Africa’s most treasured heritage sites.
Today Vergelegen extends over some 3,000 hectares, from the banks of the Lourens River to the mountain slopes, and its custodians have made conservation central to its identity. In 2005 it became the first producer to be named a Champion of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative, after a vast programme of clearing invasive alien vegetation and restoring more than 2,000 hectares of indigenous land. That same care extends to the vineyards, planted on carefully chosen sites cooled by breezes from nearby False Bay. Their wines are among the most decorated in the Cape and have regularly earned five stars in Platter’s South African Wine Guide.
The Estate White, long known as the GVB White, is the estate’s flagship white and a Cape classic. It is a Bordeaux-style blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, two varieties with deep roots in South African history, each drawn from one of Vergelegen’s finest sites. The Sémillon comes from the south-facing Korhaan flats at around 220 metres, planted in 1991. The Sauvignon Blanc comes from the celebrated Schaapenberg vineyard, a windswept, directly south-facing hill at around 320 metres, planted with clones originally from the Loire Valley. Two different soils, two altitudes and two varieties combine to give a wine of remarkable complexity.
Both varieties are hand-picked, the Sémillon around a fortnight after the Sauvignon, then whole-bunch pressed and fermented in French oak barrels, where the wine matures for around eight to nine months. The result is tight, focused and beautifully integrated: grapefruit, greengage and gooseberry, a waxy, honeyed richness from the Sémillon, fresh herbs and fynbos, all carried by tense, juicy acidity to a long, mineral finish. The 2023 vintage scored 96 points at the International Wine Challenge, where it was crowned South African White Trophy winner, and like the finest white Bordeaux it will continue to develop gracefully for a decade or more.
Additional Information
| ABV | 13% |
|---|---|
| Bottle Size | Bottle 75cl |
| Colour | White |
| Country | South Africa |
| Critic Score | 95/100 |
| Drink until | 2032 |
| Style | Still |
| Sweetness | Dry |
| Vintage | 2023 |
