Dandelion Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc, "Wishing Clock of the Adelaide Hills" Australia (2022)

Producer: Dandelion Vineyards

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc

Where: Adelaide Hills

Country: Australia

Taste: Light and dry white wine. This delightful Sauvignon Blanc showcase vibrant flavors of grapefruit, citrus, and fresh cut grass. Notes of gooseberry and lime linger on the long, mineral-driven finish.

Vibes with: Oysters on the half shell and sunsets

Additional Info:

Elena (winemaker) really loves Sauvignon Blanc, but unfortunately it is a variety that is difficult to find great material in South Australia. Much of the clonal material produces too fruity of berries and lacks the savage herbaceous-ness that Sauvignon Blanc wants to show balanced by mouth watering citrus and a mineral drive. There is a site in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills that Zar helped track down. This vineyard has heritage clone material but relatively young vines. Bill & Vicki Borchardt own this little slice of Sauvy heaven atop Teakle’s Hill. The fruit was hand selected and picked on the first week of March in the cool of early morning then destemmed in small batches without crushing the fruit followed by gentle pressing to tank. Only the free run juice is used and fermented with carefully selected yeasts in small tanks at a very cool temperature (12-14ºC). After primary fermentation finished the wine was cooled down even further to block secondary fermentation from beingcarried out. The wine aged in tank for six months prior to being bottled with a light filtration and fining.

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Dandelion Vineyards was started by Bulgarian born winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar. They grow their own grapes as well as source fabulous old vine fruit from some of the finest family vineyards in Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Eden Valley. Their wines represent decades of experience, blending the fruit of the heirloom vineyards with the finest traditions of artisan winemaking. Their aim is to express the terroir of each specific vineyard site. "Dandelion is one the new producers now entering the market, whose wines have developed an impassioned following. Elena Brooks is one of the new generation of star winemakers working in the Barossa and McLaren Vale." Lettie Teague - Wall Street Journal