Paul Cluver 'Close Encounter' Riesling 2016

Wonderfully fragrant – concentrated fruit and floral notes. Lots of mango, orange and frangipangi with sweet melon and pineapple freshness. Lovely lime and lemongrass finish.

Quite a versatile wine and a welcome alternative for the Sauvignon blanc- and Chardonnay- weary palates. Works well with spicy food and is great with sushi. Carpaccio and beef tartar are interesting partners too.


variety : Riesling [ 100% Riesling ]
winemaker : Andries Burger
wine of origin : Elgin
analysis : alc : 9.07 % vol  rs : 35.7 g/l  pH : 3.4  ta : 8.0 g/l  
type : White  style : Sweet  body : Medium  taste : Fruity  
pack : Bottle  size : 750ml  closure : Screwcap  

AWARDS

Close Encounter Riesling’13 – Decanter 2014 – Silwer
Close Encounter Riesling’13 – John Platter 2015 – 4stars
Close Encounter Riesling’13 – Tim Atkin – 93 points
Close Encounter Riesling’14 – Parker Points – 91 points

ageing : 

Will age beautifully.

Paul Cluver Wines currently makes three styles of Riesling wines. In addition to Close Encounter Riesling, a drier style Riesling and a dessert wine is also made. This is the 5th release of Close Encounter Riesling.

Name
At at time when Riesling was a particularly difficult wine to sell, it was considered to pull out all the Riesling vineyards, luckily we did not. Since then, there has been a renewed interest world wide in this noble grape variety, and 8.2 hectares of new Riesling vineyards have been planted.

in the vineyard : 

We currently have a total of 12.9 hectare of Riesling i.e. Weisser Riesling planted on the estate – making us the biggest single Riesling grower in South Africa. The oldest vines were planted in 1987 – the most recent in 2006. The soil is predominantly Bokkeveld Shale and or light clay with a ‘ferricrete’ top layer (surficial sand and gravel masses). Vine orientation is East/West on North west facing slopes with an average gradient of 1:7. Height above sea level is 300 – 400 meters.

in the cellar : 

In addition to vineyard sorting, a second stage of bunch and berry sorting occurs at the cellar to eliminate all traces of rot. Skin contact prior to fermentation is done to extract flavor and reduce acidity – duration varies. This year it was for 8 hours. Pressing is always gentle. Only free run juice is fermented. After settling, the juice is fermented. This particular Riesling was made using a yeast strain known for slow, cool fermentation. Fermentation was stopped at the desired sugar level after which the wine was racked, stabilized and prepared for bottling.


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