Painted Wolf Lightning Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Painted Wolf, the label owned by Jeremy and Emma Borg, sees a portion of turnover donated to organisations dedicated to protecting the endangered African wild dog. Now the Borgs have started a series of wines designed to celebrate individual dogs to further increase awareness of the species and their conservation requirements.

The first release is a Sauvignon Blanc named for Lightning, who was the alpha male in the Kruger Park’s Skukuza pack. More particularly, it is a blend of 88% Sauvignon, these grapes grown by Naas Terblanche of Vaalvlei near Stanford and 12% Semillon from Robert Stanford Estate, winemaking involving spontaneous fermentation and six months of maturation in older oak and plastic egg.

The nose shows citrus, yellow apple and naartjie with hints of hay and dried herbs in the background while the palate has surprisingly dense fruit given an alcohol of just 12.27% to go with bright acidity and a savoury finish. It’s a sophisticated affair. Price: R200 a bottle.

CE’s rating: 92/100.

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