Sauvignon Blanc Great Southern 2023 – Three Lions

To produce the Sauvignon Blanc Great Southern Three Lions, fruit was machine harvested early in the morning and gently pressed. The clear juice was cold settled for 48 hours to retain freshness. A slow, cool fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures to preserve fresh, primary fruit aromatics. A small portion was left in contact with oak to build texture and complexity, before the wine was racked, fined, filtered and bottled.

Plantagenet’s total 126 hectares of vineyard have been carved out of the region’s distinctive Marri soils, named after the massive native Marri, or Red Gum, trees that grow here. The vast majority of fruit is sourced from the Rosetta vineyard, where Sauvignon Blanc was planted in 2001 on a north-facing aspect. The soils are gravelly loams with good drainage over a base of fractured clay, ensuring that the vines are not over-watered or over-fertilised, thus allowing for optimal fruit concentration.

The Three Lions wines are from Plantagenet. The name Plantagenet was given to the shire in Western Australia by early English settlers and was adopted by the winery when it was established in 1974. The arms of the Gules family, who later became the Plantagenet dynasty, were three lions passant guardant, termed colloquially “the arms of England”. They were first adopted by King Richard the Lionheart (reigned 1189–1199), son of King Henry II of England (reigned 1154–1189), and grandson of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.