Prescient Sauvignon Blanc Report 2023: Top 10
By Christian Eedes, 29 August 2023
4
Introduction
This year’s Sauvignon Blanc Report convened by Winemag.co.za and sponsored by multinational financial services company Prescient is now out. There were 91 examples of single-variety Sauvignon Blanc and 20 Sauv-Sem blends received 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 Reserve 2022
Price: R130
Wine of Origin: Durbanville
Abv: 13.78%
94
Diemersdal The Journal 2022
Price: R240
Wine of Origin: Durbanville
Abv: 13.82%
94
Du Toitskloof Old Vine 2022
Price: R190
Wine of Origin: Breedekloof
Abv: 13.13%
94
Kruger Family Old Vines 2021
Price: R225
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 13.5%
94
Mellish Family Vines Blanc Fumé 2021
Price: R235
Wine of Origin: Durbanville, Cape Town
Abv: 12.57%
94
Vigne d’Or 2022 (Terre Paisible)
Price: R145
Wine of Origin: Franschhoek
Abv: 13%
93
Allée Bleue Darling 2022
Price: R115
Wine of Origin: Darling
Abv: 13%
93
Diemersdal The Journal 2021
Price: R240
Wine of Origin: Durbanville
Abv: 13.74%
93
Von Blonde 2023
Price: R120
Wine of Origin: Coastal Region
Abv: 13.82%
92
Buitenverwachting 2022
Price: R135
Wine of Origin: Constantia
Abv: 13.37%
Sauv-Sem Blends Top Six
The six best are as follows:
95
Coterie by Wildeberg Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Price: R181
Wine of Origin: Coastal Region
Abv: 13.21%
Winner of a new 225-litre Sylvain Blanc barrel from Tonnellerie Sylvain.
94
Durbanville Hills The Tangram 2021
Price: R230
Wine of Origin: Durbanville, Cape Town
Abv: 14.17%
94
Journey’s End Collectors Series 2022
Price: R330
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 12.9%
94
Quoin Rock White Blend 2022
Price: R400
Wine of Origin: Cape Coast
Abv: 13%
93
Bloemendal Kanonberg 2017
Price: R210
Wine of Origin: Cape Town
Abv: 12.95%
93
Boschendal Suzanne 2022
Price: R250
Wine of Origin: Elgin
Abv: 13%
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 45 wines to rate 90-plus is R180 a bottle and of the Top 10 is R177.
Best Buy
Offering the best quality relative to price is the Long Mountain 2023 with a rating of 90 and selling for R65 a bottle.
Pear, peach and citrus plus some leesy complexity on the nose while the palate is medium bodied with fresh acidity and salty finish. Nicely understated.
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 2023
Shop online
Johannesburg boutique wine retailer Dry Dock Liquor is offering the top wines for sale and can deliver nationwide.
Buy Sauvignon Blanc now.
Buy Sauv-Sem blends now.
Hermanus wine shop Wine Village is offering the top wines for sale and can ship all over the world – buy now.
Ashley Westaway | 30 August 2023
Morning Christian. Care to comment on the Trizanne 2020 plummeting from 95 pts to 86 pts? The worst wine on show?
Trizanne Signature Wines Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2020
Price: R235
W.O. Elim. 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon. Spontaneously fermented and matured for 10 months in barrels of various sizes, 20% new. Beguiling aromatics of lime, lemon, white peach, liquorice, herbs and some flinty reduction. The palate is lean and austere but certainly not dull – this has a wonderful tension about it while the finish is long and saline. A sophisticated offering that will reward cellaring.
CE’s rating: 95/100.
Christian Eedes | 31 August 2023
Hi Ashley, An outcome of like this can have all manner of explanation. The panel felt that the wine appeared shy on nose and palate and might simply be going through a dip in terms of its evolution. The wine is closed with natural cork and this might have been a case of random bottle oxidation – when this is a concern, we normally open the second bottle submitted but did not in this case and that’s our poor judgement call. The wine was also one of the older examples in the line-up and would’ve necessarily looked less seductively primary. Lastly, the line-up is randomised and it might simply be a case of the Trizanne 2020 looking less impressive than the wines immediately before and after it (although panel members do taste in different directions in an effort to negate this). I’m inclined to think that if you have the wine in you cellar, this particular rating doesn’t mean you’ve made a bad purchase decision…
Christian Eedes | 2 September 2023
Update: It turns out that we did open both bottles of the Trizanne 2020 during the formal tasting but this was inadvertently not recorded by the tasting coordinator. On opening a third bottle, the wine again did not show well initially but after 24 hours was very much more impressive. The mysteries of wine…
Tim James | 4 September 2023
And just possibly the mysteries of competitive winetasting…. One wonders if your first, sighted tasting note, was made only after 24 hours?