2016 Geoff Weaver Sauvignon Blanc

Geoff Weaver

Australia / Adelaide Hills / Geoff Weaver

VINTAGE
Crop levels of 2.5kg/vine were close to the long-term average. It was another early-ripening year with full flavour development. Hand-picking occurred in cool weather on 1st to 3rd March. Heat degree day summation for the year was 1310; a little over the long term average of 1270 Heat Degree Days (HDD). A mild February was crucial to flavour development and acid retention. The vines are now 28 years old and show the benefits of maturity with good balance of crop and leaf plus more stable crops. The growing season was dry with 132mm of rain from October to March, below the long-term average of 229mm. Disease pressure was consequently low and ripe, healthy grapes were harvested.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
100% Sauvignon blanc from Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. Juice analysis: 13.3Be; 3.01 pH; 7.8g/L TA. Wine analysis: alcohol 13.9%; pH 3.00; TA 7.4 g/L as tartaric. A note on acid: pH is a measure of acid. Low pH means higher acid. The low pH of the juice and wine Geoff considers a key element of quality. Low pH wine (say 3.0 to 3.1) has a natural tightness of structure whilst conversely high pH (say 3.3 to 3.5) wines are somewhat oily and soapy in mouthfeel. The dry-grown vines tend to have low natural pH levels. The term “minerality” is often used and Geoff thinks it applies to naturally low pH wines with a gentle, savoury, acid austerity. He regards minerality as highly desirable for his wines.

WINEMAKING
The grapes are crushed, destemmed and gently air bag pressed. The juice is clear settled and cold fermented to dryness. The approach is to retain the fresh aromatics of the fruit and not to generate any harsh extractives which produce coarseness on the palate.

TASTING NOTES
Lifted aroma of pear, cut grass and hints of flowers. Fresh, fragrant and complex. Nothing heavy or vegetal. Fresh fruit with a lively, juicy richness on the palate and a lingering, fresh acid edge to the finish. Full, long and delicate. It's a lively, tightly structured wine but with a generous, supple mid palate and a fine, long, savoury finish.

March, 2018

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front

92 points

Spot on for those seeking Sauvignon Blanc 101, or perhaps even the next level in the scheme of things. Fragrant with passionfruit, lychee, faint grassy notes. Tastes refreshing, a nice bite to acidity, good lean fruit flavour, lingers with a little talc-like mineral charm. Delicate, pure feeling, refreshing. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it is doing a good job of elevating the offering. Drink with gusto.

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About Geoff Weaver

Geoff Weaver has journeyed from the big end of town to a tiny, intimate pocket of the Adelaide Hills. Back in 1988 he was appointed chief winemaker for the Hardy group of companies, where he oversaw winemaking for around 10% of Australia's grapes. In 1992 he made the break from corporate winemaking to pursue his own dream on the Lenswood vineyard that he and wife Judith had started planting a decade earlier. Those vines, some of the oldest in the Hills, are really reaping the rewards of maturity. Geoff is clearly one of Australia's elite white winemakers. His is one of Australia's best and longest-lived Chardonnays and the oft-overlooked Riesling is beautifully aromatic and mineral. Add to this a Sauvignon Blanc that can only be described as immaculate, while the wild yeast, partial barrel-fermented, oak-aged Ferus Sauvignon Blanc is a gorgeous example of this style. Against a tidal wave of Sauvignons from ‘across the ditch’, it’s comforting to know that there’s one from this particular island that can hold a torch to any of them.

About

Geoff has been involved in the wine industry since he joined Orlando in 1972. Geoff progressed to the position of white winemaker for Thomas Hardy and Sons in 1975, where he was responsible for the vintages at Siegersdorf in the Barossa and at Waikerie and Padthaway. In 1988 Geoff was appointed chief winemaker for the Hardy group of companies overseeing winemaking of around 10% of Australia’s grapes.
Even then, Geoff recognised that the future of Australian wine depended on the quality of the vineyard, so he and wife Judith embarked on a project to grow the best possible fruit in a new state-of-the-art site at Lenswood. This was a pioneering venture into an untried region. They planted the vineyard at Lenswood in 1982 and have steadily developed it to its current 11 hectares.
In 1992 Geoff made the break from corporate winemaking and left to pursue his winemaking dreams at Lenswood full time. In doing so his responsibility went from 120,000 tonnes of fruit at Hardy’s to 70 tonnes from Lenswood.