Iona Wines

Elgin Andrew Gunn and his wife, first generation South Africans with Scottish and Viking heritage, own the Iona estate, which is situated in the apple-growing region of Elgin, east of Cape Town. The estate occupies a unique position in a valley between two hills on top of the eastern slope of the Elgin Valley (the handful of other producers in Elgin are more towards the valley floor) and is heavily influenced by the Atlantic Ocean 3km away. The soils in this area are unique in South Africa with an unusual abundance of post glacial alluvial types. This coupled with the cool and lengthy ripening period make it an ideal region for the production of aromatic white wine and medium bodied, European style reds. As a qualitative comparison, Iona receives 50% less rain in the harvesting months than Bordeaux and is also slightly warmer with an average growing season temperature of 17.5 degrees C. Neils Verburg is the winemaker and works closely with Andrew to obtain the ripest, most aromatic grapes possible and maintain this freshness and sense of place throughout the winemaking process which is conducted almost exclusively by hand in small parcels. The first vineyards were planted in 1998 and the second vintage, Sauvignon Blanc 2002 was awarded a Veritas Double Gold Medal. Iona now have a website that you can visit if you care to find out more about the wines of South Africa and in particular those of Iona: Iona Wines Website

	Iona Chardonnay 2009 - Elgin, South Africa Bin No. IONACHAR09 Price: £14.95 The cool growing conditions with the resultant minerality and wonderful natural acidity that the Gunn's get in their grapes make Chardonnay an ideal variety for Iona to grow. A limited amount of Iona Chardonnay is produced from just 2.5 hectares. In order to retain the complex array of flavours form the vineyard, oak barrels are only used to complement these flavours. 50% of the wine is wild fermented in French oak of which only 20% i ..
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	Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - Elgin, South Africa Bin No. IONASB10 Price: £10.75 After a rigorous selection process in the vineyard, grapes for the Iona Sauvignon Blanc are all de-stemmed and crushed; the free run juice and pressings are kept separate, racked clean and lees filtered. Cool-fermentation takes place for 12 to 14 days and then the wine is racked soon after. Only the best components are used for the final Iona Sauvignon Blanc blend, with one filtration before bottling. The 2010 vintage of Iona Sauvignon Blanc i ..
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	Iona Syrah 2006 - Elgin, South Africa Bin No. IONASYRA06 Price: £14.50 The origins of Syrah at Iona actually came about through nursery error, according to Iona's owner Andrew Gunn. When they planted Cabernet Sauvignon at Iona, they also inadvertently planted 600 Shiraz vines which were supplied by their nursery - unbeknown to them. The act was only discovered when they were ready to harvest their first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon and found grapes interspersed in the vineyard that were not quite ready. They we ..
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	Iona The Gunnar 2005 - Elgin, South Africa Bin No. IONAGUNN05 Price: £13.00 The vineyards used for production of grapes for The Gunnar are situated exclusively within the Iona Estate, at 425m above sea level on the eastern hills of the Elgin valley. There is a significant influence from the ocean which is just 3km away, cooling the vines with a maritime breeze, increasing the hang time of the berries. The fluctuation between warm daytime and cool night-time temperatures promotes the development of highly aromatic com ..
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	Noble Iona (Botrytised Sauvignon Blanc) 2007 - Half Bottle (37.5cl) Bin No. NOBLEION07 Price: £12.00 This tiny 2.33 hectare vineyard is situated at 420m above sea level overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Late afternoon mist and dry warm days result in perfect development of botrytis. The grapes are hand harvested late in the season yielding a tiny 2 tonnes per hectare. After de-stemming, crushing and gentle pressing the juice is settled for 48 hours then inoculated with yeast, fermentation takes 8 weeks until alcohol is approx 12%. The ..
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