DIEMERSDAL
LAUNCHES MAIDEN VINTAGE OF SIR LAMBERT SAUVIGNON BLANC TO CRITICAL
ACCLAIM
More renowned for crayfish, icy Atlantic
currents and larger-than-life characters, the Lambert's Bay region
on the Cape West Coast some 200km from Cape Town is set to become a
unique addition to South Africa's quality wine wards. The Sir
Lambert Sauvignon Blanc 2007, the first to be certified as being
made from grapes of this ward,
has already achieved critical acclaim, including a gold medal at its debut at
the Michelangelo Wine
Competition.
Named for the British admiral who charted the
coast to Lambert's Bay, Sir Lambert Wines was established
as a joint venture between the
historic Diemersdal Wine Estate in Durbanville, Lambert's Bay general practitioner, John Hayes and
Vredendal viticulturalist Johann
Teubes.
The partnership wanted to accentuate the
proximity of the vineyards to the ocean and therefore decided on a
maritime theme. After long discussions and extensive research,
the moniker Sir Lambert was chosen as a tribute
to one of the great men
of the sea who is famed for his 1826 to 1840 charting of
the Cape West
Coast.
"Set three kilometres from the sea at Lambert's
Bay, the 10-hectare vineyard produces excellent Sauvignon Blanc
grapes influenced by the cooling breezes coming off the cold
Atlantic Ocean. Sir Lambert Sauvignon Blanc 2007 is a true
product of Lambert's Bay. Local people pick
the grapes by hand in early
morning to ensure that the unique cool-climate characteristics are captured and retained," according
to winemaker Thys
Louw.
The Diemersdal Wine Estate was originally
granted to a free burgher in 1698 by the then governor of the Cape,
Simon van der Stel, and has been in the Louw family for six
generations. Diemersdal
winemakers Thys Louw and Mari van der Merwe recently made
a clean sweep at the Michelangelo International Awards when three
of their wines were awarded with gold medals. These gold
medals were awarded to the Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Eight
Rows Sauvignon Blanc 2007 and Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
2007. The gold for the Sir Lambert Sauvignon Blanc 2007 made for
an unprecented tally of four gold
medals for one producer and one grape variety - a feat that is believed
to be a
first.
Sir Lambert Sauvignon Blanc 2007 is a premium
quality, fresh, medium-bodied wine. Flinty at first with hints
of green peas, fresh asparagus
and gooseberries filling the palate, it
is a mouthful of exotic fruits with a perfect acid balance and an
alcohol of 12.7
percent.
The low-yielding Sir Lambert vineyards only
produced a total of 1 000
cases (x 6) of the Sauvignon
Blanc 2007 which is available in selected retail outlets countrywide or directly from
the Diemersdal Wine
Estate.
Also in the pipeline is a Merlot and a wooded Sauvignon Blanc from
the Sir Lambert
vineyards.
For more information
contact:
Diemersdal Wine
Estate
Telephone 021 976 3361
E-mail: wines@diemersdal.co.za
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