The latest insights on Sauvignon Blanc, SA’s top-selling wine variety, were shared with a full house of 120 stakeholders from across the wine industry spectrum at this year’s Sauvignon Blanc SA Technical Seminar at Allée Bleue, Franschhoek on Wednesday 20 November 2019.
The seminar is renowned as a ‘must-attend’ technical event with distinguished experts from SA and abroad discussing a host of subjects ranging from the latest in research to consumer and industry insights. A highlight this year was the participation of Staša Bizjak, Founder and Editor-in-chief at The Third Wine, who presented an overview of Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc, complemented by an exclusive tasting of Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc wines. “Cost = yield per ton” was quite a controversial topic by Charles Hopkins, De Grendel Wine Estate Cellar Master, and a judge of the 2019 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 competition. Dr Tara Southey, of the Centre for Geographical Analysis at Stellenbosch University, shared a Western Cape perspective on climate change whilst Dr Nadia van der Colff, of Consumer Solutions, talked about Sauvignon Blanc from a consumer perspective. Dr Carien Coetzee, of Basic Wine, gave feedback about this year’s FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 competition, followed by an informal tasting of the winners.
Delegates also received a technical information booklet (compiled by Winetech), containing:
- Tasting notes, viticulture and winemaking detail, as well as chemical and sensory analyses of the 2019 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 winners
- Sauvignon blanc fun facts and 2018 statistics overview
- A research focus with article summaries:
o Oenological and viticultural influences on volatile thiols by Dr Carien Coetzee (Basic Wine)
o Can you stand the heat? Western Cape perspective on climate change by Dr Tara Southey
o Sauvignon blanc from a consumer perspective. A true brand? By Dr Nadia van der Colff
o Increasing volatile thiols with sources of sulphur by Karien O’Kennedy (Winetech)
o Increasing volatile thiols by freezing grapes by Karien O’Kennedy (Winetech)
