Gabrielskloof Amphora Sauvignon Blanc 2020
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Lifted aromas of litchi, blackcurrant, lime leaf, honey and straw on the nose. The palate is textured and saline with gooseberry and fennel combining for a long, lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Beginning with dusty citrus tones in the glass, the 2020 Amphora Sauvignon Blanc offers up elements of grapefruit skin, sweet citrus, a complex nuttiness and supporting tones of chives and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied, the wine displays energetic acidity and a balanced structure, as flavors of pink grapefruit and dusty pepper skin flow across the mid-palate. It ends with a lingering, thoughtful, mineral-laced finish. It's an utterly delicious and surprising wine. Give it a try. After fermentation, the wine matured in amphora for 10 months, then rested in the bottle for three months prior to release.
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Spectator
Gabriëlskloof is the realization of a dream for South African Bernhard Heyns, who searched for several years to find the unique piece of land that, in his words, would “root him to the spot”. In 2001 he found what was then a canola farm named ‘Avontuur’ and the penny dropped. It was soon obvious that the site had the potential to make high-quality wines with a distinctive character, and so it has proved. Gabrielskloof has been owned and run by the Heyns family ever since. That family has since grown to include members of the local community, several of whom have risen through the ranks to senior positions at the farm.
Engaging with and being a part of uplifting their local community is the driving force behind their employment approach and the farm has both been part of and initiated several local upliftment programs in the vicinity. The arrival of Peter-Allan Finlayson as cellar master in 2014 has ushered in a new and exciting era for the farm, notably with the Landscape Series and Projects Range, wines from which have routinely featured in critic’s choice awards in recent years.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
A relatively cool, maritime climate area, Walker Bay includes three important wards: Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. These sites benefit from the cooling ocean winds and are reputed for the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinotage.