Lothian Vineyards Elgin 'Late Harvest' Viognier 2018 375ml

SOUTH AFRICA : WESTERN CAPE : ELGIN

SUSTAINABLE : Viognier

FULL-BODIED, TANGERINE MARMALADE, DRIED APRICOT, WILD HONEY, NO OAK

Elgin is South Africa's coolest wine region — a high plateau between 250 and 400 metres, walled off from the warmer Cape hinterland by the Hottentots Holland Mountains and close enough to the South Atlantic that sea mist rolls in most mornings. Lothian's estate sits on the Palmiet River; it's the daily convergence of mist rising off Applethwaite Lake and the river that creates the botrytis conditions on the Viognier.

Winemaker Richard Kershaw MW — South Africa's only winemaking Master of Wine — harvests clone 642 from Block 7 by hand from Table Mountain Sandstone soils, then ferments in stainless steel to keep the aromatics intact. The 2018 harvest was one of the smallest in a decade — drought-stressed vines, concentrated small berries — and the wine carries that intensity. Vivino's community rates it 4.1/5 and notes it builds for up to ten years in the cellar.

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