This week's wine has a pale straw greenish colour with intense aromas of grapefruit and citrus blossom. On the palate there is a nettly flavour with a blackcurrant background.
It's 13.7 % alcohol with good acidity and a long-lasting aftertaste. Good to drink as an aperitif or to accompany shellfish, especially oysters, lobsters etc.
Vin Santa Rita was founded in 1880 using the finest French rootstocks. By 1988 a group of prestigious entrepreneurs had acquired the property and the quality and reputation of the company has increased markedly. The grapes were mostly sourced from the Casablanca valley 8km from Santiago.
Here the maritime influence gives a mean temperature in the summer months of 25C and rainfall May to October of 450mms. The soil here is quite poor, alluvial and sandy, but the grape yields vary from 6-7 tons per acre. 40% of the grapes were macerated on their skins for 18 hours, the remainder were immediately crushed and pressed.
Stainless steel tanks were used for the fermentation at temperatures as low as 11C giving the noticeable fruity aromas. The sauvignon grape seems to like these conditions as some very good wines are coming from this region. This one came from Majestic priced at £7.25 a bottle but if you include two in a case they're only £5.80 each.
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