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Bress 2010 Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

The Name
Whilst living and winemaking in the Yarra Valley, I discovered the joys of breeding and showing chickens. This passion led me to visit France in 1996 to witness first hand their traditional methods of breeding chickens and I dedicate our wines to the famous chickens of France and what they represent - artisan production using traditional, age old methods.

The Vineyard
The fruit for this Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc was selected from five growers. One is situated in the warmer region of Wilyabrup and the others in the southern end of the Margaret River appellation.

Our growers used traditional viticultural techniques of leaf plucking the fruiting zone and crop thinning to produce crops of less than 3 tonnes to the acre.  It is this low-cropped fruit that has, in large part, produced such a full flavoured wine.

Winemaking
My winemaking belief is that good fruit should be treated gently and with minimal intervention. The 2010 Bress Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc was treated in this manner. Techniques I was exposed to in Bordeaux in the early 1990's whilst making Entre deux Mer white blends of Semillon and Sauvignon were used in the making of this wine.

These included:

• Using a Semillon component that was barrel fermented in one-year-old French oak hogsheads and then stirred to build richness into the mid palate of the wine.
• Following fermentation, the wine was settled, blended and gently filtered prior to bottling in June.

This Bress Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc was bottled using a Screw Cap closure. Using a Screw Cap closure is our attempt to ensure that our wine is presented free of cork characters (good or bad) and that the full aroma and flavour of this wine is expressed.

Tasting Notes

• Colour: Pale golden straw with youthful green tinges.
• Aroma: The wine offers a complex array of fruit aromas of green skinned fruit, grapefruit, lemon and tropical fruit. There are subtle oak aromas of char and spice.
• Palate: The wine is made as a very attractive spring and summer time Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and has fruit flavours of lemon, grapefruit and tropical fruits. There is a textural mid palate richness evident in the wine due in part to its barrel-fermentation. The finish is unctuous and well rounded.

Please enjoy this traditionally made hand crafted wine.