Pilgrim Wines Viura 2023
This white varietal that has its origin in Spain, is a versatile but mysterious grape to make wine from. Made from only 200 vines growing in the Breedekloof Valley, this wine lures the senses with aromas of chamomile, elder flower and jasmine flower, rolling into flavours of fine citrus blossom sweetness, vanilla and freshly ground cinnamon sticks.
It leaves a lovely weight that lingers ever so lightly.
Tasting Notes
Viura is a white wine grape that has its origin in Spain, where it is well known and widely planted varietal in mainly the regions of Rioja and Catalonia. It is also known as Macabeo and also widely planted in the southern regions of France.
The vines yield generous amounts of big grape clusters, bigger berries with a thicker tough skin. Viura tends to manage drought stress extremely well, which makes it well suited for drier, warmer climates.
Known for its versatility in still, sparkling (think Cava), dry and sweet wines, the taste of Viura is seen universally as a fresh, floral and aromatic wine when harvested early and aged without oak. When harvested late, aged in oak, it tends to be weighty, honeyed and nutty.
These 200 vines sit on ancient riverbed of about 4 meters deep. Combined with the rich, fertile silt deposits of this old-world flood plain which is the Breedekloof Valley, the vines are robust and thrive, producing fruit that perfectly accents their heritage and terroir.
Everything was set and ready for Spring to arrive, even the temperatures began heading northwards a little early. But, as we can always expect, the unexpected was also lurking around the corner. A late spat of rain and a snap of cold towards the end of August made for the early excitement of Spring to be rudely interrupted.
After that initial delay, Spring sprang into action, albeit with a slight hesitance. The harvest started out early, especially with the dryland vines and then continued into the whites, but there was an urgency missing. It was only later when looking back, that the season seemed like it was slightly stunted, just missing some energy. After the whites casually strolled into the cellar, we could continue with the reds and – boy oh boy – did they take their sweet time. Always a good thing! Don’t get me wrong! It’s always a blessing to have more time than needed in harvest! But it is also then that you realize just how precious a commodity like “time” really is……extremely. Use it wisely.
Fermentation began and concluded naturally and ran really smoothly filing a 225L and 500L neutral white wine barrel.
Maturation took place in those same barrels for 3 months with monthly stirring, or battonage of the barrels until the wine was racked and bottled without any fining or filtration.
Bottled on the 10th of June 2022
Color: Light golden hue with a green tinge
Nose: Starts off quite flinty, wet river rocks and dusty. As it finds its voice, it opens and reminds of the first Spring mornings – fresh, crisp, and full of blossomy perfume. Fruit also starts to appear in the form of guava, papaya, and winter melon.
Pallet: The weight of this wine on the pallet completely overdelivers! It’s quite surprisingly big, and flavorsome in a different and uniquely good way.
Mouth filling from start to finish, bringing an array of flavour expressions that are different to the norm are a very exciting part of this Viura. Fresh and lively, with a zingy acidity and flinty, pithy minerality, but elegant and rounded with a serious amount of volume to be able to handle some age in bottle.
This is such a great bottle of something uniquely different.
Alc: 12.5 %
RS: 2.5 g/l
pH: 3.38
TA: 5.8 g/l
VA: 0.41 g/l
Sesame crusted trout on rice noodles with an Asian broth
Recipe, food preparation and text: Ilse van der Merwe.
Photography: Tasha Seccombe.
Styling: Nicola Pretorius & Tasha Seccombe.
