Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report 2022: Top 10
By Christian Eedes, 10 August 2022
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Introduction
This year’s Sauvignon Blanc Report convened by Winemag.co.za and sponsored by multinational financial services company Prescient is now out. Entries were as follows: 94 examples of single-variety Sauvignon Blanc; 10 of single-variety Semillon and 18 Sauv-Sem blends and these were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by a three-person panel, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale.
Sauvignon Blanc Top 10
The 10 best are as follows:
94
Diemersdal Wild Horseshoe 2021
Price: R265
Wine of Origin: Durbanville
Abv: 13.34%
93
Iona Elgin Highlands Wild Ferment 2021
Price: R240
Wine of Origin: Elgin
Abv: 13.2%
93
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve 2021
Price: R260
Wine of Origin: Western Cape
Abv: 13.66%
93
Mellish Family Vineyards Bakenkop Blanc Fumé 2020
Price: R220
Wine of Origin: Durbanville, Cape Town
Abv: 12.6%
93
The Smuggler’s Boot 2021 (Richard Kershaw Wines)
Price: R195
Wine of Origin: Cape South Coast
Abv: 13.37%
93
Zevenwacht 2022
Price: R105
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 13.87%
Semillon Top Three
The three best are as follows:
94
Nitida 2021
Price: R130
Wine of Origin: Durbanville, Cape Town
Abv: 14.47%
Sauv-Sem Blends Top Five
The five best are as follows:
95 – Best Overall
Kershaw GPS Series Cape South Coast
Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Price: R395
Wine of Origin: Cape South Coast
Abv: 13.22%
Winner of a new 225-litre Sylvain Blanc barrel from Tonnellerie Sylvain.
95
Wade Bales Regional Series Constantia White 2020
Price: R250
Wine of Origin: Constantia
Abv: 13.83%
94
Coterie by Wildeberg Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Price: R295
Wine of Origin: Coastal Region
Abv: 14%
91
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve 2019
Price: R525
Wine of Origin: Constantia
Abv: 13.26%
About the category
Sauvignon Blanc is an extremely popular variety that typically makes aromatic, crisp, dry and extremely distinctive wines all over the world. The appellations of Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre in the central France’s Loire Valley produce benchmark versions of the variety while New Zealand has also become closely associated with it in modern times. In Bordeaux, meanwhile, Sauvignon is frequently blended with Semillon to good effect.
Most Sauvignon Blanc is fermented at relatively low temperatures in stainless steel with the intention of preserving as much primary fruit as possible. Picking dates and winemaking have a huge influence on style, but the best examples provide a recognisable sense of place, too. Barrel fermentation and maturation as well as the addition of Semillon are two ploys to provide the wines from the variety with extra depth and complexity.
What does a top Sauvignon Blanc go for?
The average price of the 47 wines to rate 90-plus is R149 a bottle and of the Top 10 is R192.
Best Buy
Offering the best quality relative to price is the Robertson 2022 with a rating of 92 and selling for R65 a bottle.
Pretty aromatics of flowers, herbs, lime and peach while the palate has good fruit purity and racy acidity before a dry finish.
In-depth analysis
To read the report in full, including key findings, tasting notes for the top wines, buyers guide and scores on the 100-point quality scale for all wines entered, download the following: Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report 2022
Shop online
Johannesburg boutique wine retailer Dry Dock Liquor is offering some of the wines in the Top 10 for sale and can deliver nationwide – buy now.
Online retailer Wine-of-the-Month Club is offering a six-bottle mixed case selected from the Top 10 – buy now.
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Pieter de Klerk | 11 August 2022
Hi, Christian. A few months ago, I had a sublime Fryer’s Cove Bamboes Bay Sauvignon from the 2011 vintage, with vivid, complex fruit, perfect balance and a perpetual aftertaste – really classy and delicious. In fact, it was the best Sauvignon I’ve had in quite some time. Generally, I think it’s one of the better Sauvignons to come out of South Africa.
Winemag.co.za has scored the 2021 Bamboes Bay 87 points in this report. Now I know that great Sauvignon tends not to “show” when young, so it’s particularly difficult (arguably even problematic) to taste them in their youth, but, seeing as the panel scored other young Sauvignons much higher, including some fairly high volume wines from warmer climates (Rietvallei & Robertson at 92 points), and only one single wine out of the whole lot of 94 lower than the Bamboes Bay, I have to ask: did the panel find something off-putting about the wine? Could things have gone so far South since DGB took ownership a few months before this vintage?
Christian Eedes | 11 August 2022
Hi Pieter, I suspect Bamboes Bay 2021 is going to be divisive in that it’s stylistically extreme – overt pyrazine character (fresh herbs, asparagus, bell pepper, green beans) to go with a palate that is rich and full and yet also high in acidity. As a panel, we found it rather old school.
Pieter de Klerk | 11 August 2022
One can only hope that they haven’t fallen into the “more is more” trap, seeing as it is their top cuvée. But that doesn’t sound too promising. Time will tell, I suppose.