Ladybird White - Organic - Laibach Organic Wines

THE LADYBIRD White 2016

TECHNICAL DETAILS

VARIETAL	93 % Chardonnay, 7 % Chenin Blanc
ALCOHOL	13%
TOTAL ACIDITY	5.3 g/l
pH	3.56
RESIDUAL SUGAR	1,9 g/l

TASTING NOTES

We are proud to release the Ladybird White 2016. This wine, which is mostly Chardonnay with a very small amount of Chenin blended in, to add some natural acidity. This vintage was dry and hot and luckily we are blessed with some of the best terroirs for growing whites and reds in the Cape. The deep clay soils are just perfect and for especially the older vines with the deep root systems they show real class.

The grapes for this wine come mostly from grapes grown on our farm. Only about 5% is bought in from other respected organic farms with good terroirs. Hand picking started already around the 20th of January, very early, for Laibach. We picked our last Chardonnay around the 15th of February. We very much do exactly the opposite of conventional winemaking and this wine is again a testimony of what we want to achieve in the long run. No crushing, enzymes, settling, finning agents, no yeast and no cooling for this wine at all. We used for the first time four small concrete egg tanks and we also fermented some parts on the skins for 20–30 days in open top tanks. 50 % of the wine was fermented in old 500 liter Hungarian oak barrels, 25% in the Concrete eggs and the rest stayed one year without sulfur in stainless steel tanks. The final wine was racked and blended during January 2017 and then it was bottled with a light filtration.

Beautiful light straw colour. Some tropical aromas with papaya and fruit salad evident. A bit of lime on the nose, but also some hints of white stone fruit. On the palate, a lovely balanced softness with great minerality and a lingering acidity. The freshness and elegance of this wine is amazing. It is light to medium bodied and will complement light refreshing food well but in general it is a wine to be enjoyed at any time!