Ange: So let’s go through the wine a little bit and then we’ll talk about how this is a screw top bottle, talking a little bit about that.

Craig: Sure.

Ange: It’s got a great nozzle, you can actually really smell the green in it.

Craig: Yeah that’s right, a little bit of green is a good thing. Does have some tropical elements to it which I think comes from the types of fermentation that we do and also the very warm air. Looking at the grapes that are growing along this canopy here, what we would do is we would lift pole so that the sunlight can actually penetrate those grapes and breakdown some of the green flavors. But we don’t want to do that with all the grapes so on the other side, what we’ll actually do is leave them covered so the harsher afternoon sun is shading the branches and you’re getting some green characters from there. So it’s a combination of what we do in the vineyard which really accents the wine going to the bottle and you're absolutely right, it’s green freshness.

Ange: And pineapple.

Craig: Pineapple but it got some tropical from the other side, absolutely.

Ange: That’s nice. So then what you’re saying is one half of the vine gives you that green citrus sort of a very acidic type of notes while the other side will give you that refreshing pineapple honey type of notes that will blend really nice to give you the end result.

Craig: That’s exactly right. We’re looking at using the canopy. Using the vine to give us the flavor, we don’t believe in taking it into the winery and adding the flavor there.

Ange: Right.

Craig: Right, it’s all going to come from the vineyard, that’s very important and no less so with Sauvignon Blanc.

Ange: And bringing out the natural tendency of the grapes, right. It’s not about changing the characters. It’s bringing out exactly what that grape has to offer and then offering it to those consumer.

Craig That’s what’s it all about, I mean, night shade provides and we only guide. That’s the way I look at it. You take what you get and what’s delivered in the winery is really what you get so we try not to over manipulate too much

Ange: This got a great taste. I think it’s very refreshing. It’s a nice crisp wine for the summertime, good by the pool.

Craig: Good anytime.

Ange: Yeah, it’s very palatable, like it’s just really nice. So how would you have changed, let’s say you got a Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, would you have changed in the reserve or what will be the difference between those two wines?

Crag: Right, well this guy here as I mention as an early release. We captured it very fresh and bottled it very early. Now the Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, we’d use the same fruit but some of those batches of fruit would go into French oven, some of them would be fermented in Franschhoek, combinations of new oak and older oak and some of those would go in a stainless steel and then going to oak after fermentation. So that’s where the wine makers hand comes in as oppose to a wine grower which perhaps this one, you could call us more of a wine grower style. But the wine maker really shows his hand in the barrel cellar for our Reserve Sauvignon Blanc by playing with barrels, not trying to overwrite it with big flavors but just to enhance it and build texture and complexity on the wine.

Ange: So are most Reserve Sauvignon Blanc age to a little bit of oak or is that just your thing?

Craig: Just our thing. I think a lot of the other guys are doing it as well, and we’ve done it in varying degrees. We try to keep the oak in shake with the way the fruit is, so again you look at the vineyard, you look at the vintage and what fruit you’re tasting and say, “I think about thirty percent French oak this year would be good.” Or in Australia, where the flavor are so rich, you might go 70 of 80% French oak, or California because they’re bigger, they can handle more oaks. So we really have to look at balance as a major drive for us.