Technical Analysis
With Amatra White, a Chenin-based cuvée, Cathy aims to apply a classic, cool, restrained approach to a generally accepted warmer climate variety found in most of South Africa.
Tasting note
Bright, fresh line of acidity like a cool wave break which supports generous, mouth filling flavours of lychees, ripe pears and white peach and finishes with a long line of almond paste and lime zest
Vinification details
Both cluster and berry sorting commenced prior to being partially crushed. The mash was pressed in a pneumatic bag press where both free run and pressed fractions were treated oxidatively with minimal wine product additions. The juice was settled cold for two days and decanted to old 225 litre French casks and stoneware amphorae that was spontaneously fermented for a month. The wine went through partial secondary malo-lactic fermentation and matured for 8 months after which both components were consolidated. Once the wine completed maturation, the casks, and amphorae were consolidated, lightly filtered and bottled.
Tasting video with Cathy Marshall
Technical Analysis
With Amatra White, a Chenin-based cuvée, Cathy aims to apply a classic, cool, restrained approach to a generally accepted warmer climate variety found in most of South Africa.
Tasting note
Bright, fresh line of acidity like a cool wave break which supports generous, mouth filling flavours of nectarine flesh, ripe pears and white peach with a long line of lime zest vibrancy on the finish.
Vinification details
Both cluster and berry sorting commence prior to being partially crushed. The mash is pressed in a pneumatic bag press where both free run and pressed fractions are treated oxidatively with minimal chemical additive intervention. The juice is settled cold for two days and then 40% is decanted to old 225 litre French casks, 50% is fermented cold in stainless steel tanks and the remaining 10% in stoneware handcrafted amphorae with no commercial yeast strain inoculated. The wine goes through partial secondary malolactic fermentation and matures for 8 months after which all 3 components are consolidated. Once the wine completes maturation, the casks, tank and amphorae are consolidated and bottled.
Technical Analysis
With Amatra White, a Chenin-based cuvée, Cathy aims to apply a classic, cool, restrained approach to a generally accepted warmer climate variety found in most of South Africa.
Tasting note
Bright, fresh line of acidity like a cool wave break which supports generous, mouth filling flavours of lychees, ripe pears and white peach and finishes with a long line of almond paste and lime zest
Vinification details
Both cluster and berry sorting commenced prior to being partially crushed. The mash was pressed in a pneumatic bag press where both free run and pressed fractions were treated oxidatively with minimal chemical additives. The juice was settled cold for two days and then 70% was decanted to old 225 litre French casks, 20% was fermented cold in stainless steel and the remaining 10% in stoneware handcrafted amphorae with no commercial yeast strain inoculated. The wine has been through partial secondary malo lactic fermentation and matured for 8 months after which all 3 components were consolidated. Once the wine completed maturation, the casks, tank and amphorae were consolidated and bottled.
Technical Analysis
With Amatra White, a Chenin-based cuvée, Cathy aims to apply a classic, cool, restrained approach to a generally accepted warmer climate variety found in most of South Africa.
Tasting note
Bright, fresh line of acidity like a cool wave break which supports generous, mouth filling flavours of lychees, ripe pears and white peach and finishes with a long line of almond paste and lime zest.
Vinification details
Both cluster and berry sorting commenced prior to being partially crushed. The mash was pressed in a pneumatic bag press where both free run and pressed fractions were treated oxidatively with minimal chemical additives. The juice was settled cold for two days and then 40% was decanted to old 225 litre French casks and the remaining 60% was fermented cold in stainless steel with no commercial yeast strain inoculated. The wine has not been through secondary malo-lactic fermentation and matured for 8 months after which both components were consolidated. Once the wine completed maturation, the casks were consolidated and bottled.
Technical Analysis
With Amatra White, a Chenin-based cuvée, Cathy aims to apply a classic, cool, restrained approach to a generally accepted warmer climate variety found in most of South Africa.
Tasting note
Bright, fresh, sweet melon and white peach top notes with fleshy ripe nectarines on the core and crisp green apple acidity on the finish. A rich mid-palate of lanolin adds depth and complexity to the wet granite stone texture. Primary white peach and fresh apple fruit aromatics may evolve into nutty, spicy baked apple and cardamom notes with age.
Vinification details
Harvest took place in March in Elgin, and mid-February in Stellenbosch. Both cluster and berry sorting commenced prior to being partially crushed. The mash was pressed in a pneumatic bag press where both free run and pressed fractions were treated oxidatively with minimal chemical additives. The juice was settled cold for two days and then 40% was decanted to old 225 litre French casks and the remaining 60% was fermented cold in stainless steel with no commercial yeast strain innoculated. The wine has not been through secondary malolactic fermentation and matured for 8 months after which both components were consolidated. Once the wine completed maturation, the casks were consolidated and bottled.
Tasting video
With owner and winemaker Cathy Marshall.
