Peacock Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc
£11.49
£15.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 9 bottles available
Sauvignon Blanc with something to say. Grown on the cool, windswept slopes of the Schapenberg overlooking False Bay, this is a taut, mineral-driven white that swaps tropical noise for proper Cape elegance. Wild-yeast fermented, vegan-friendly, and refreshingly precise. A brilliant everyday white that punches well above its price.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
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Our Verdict
We rate the Peacock Wild Ferment as one of the smartest white wine buys on our entire list. Most Sauvignon Blanc at this price is competent and forgettable; this one is genuinely characterful, a wild-yeast, lees-aged, Schapenberg-grown white with more in common with serious Cape whites than supermarket fare. It's the bottle we reach for when friends say they 'don't really like Sauvignon Blanc', and the bottle that usually changes their mind. If you enjoy this, the rest of the False Bay range is worth exploring too.
Tasting Notes
Pale straw in the glass, with a nose that pulls you in rather than shouting, grapefruit pith, lemon zest, a flash of ripe mango, and something flinty underneath that hints at the cool coastal vineyards. The palate is where it really shows its hand: concentrated citrus and stone fruit lifted by a saline, mineral spine, with a gentle honeyed weight from extended lees ageing. The wild yeast ferment adds a savoury edge, and the finish is long, taut, and properly mouth-watering.
Pink Grapefruit Bite
Zesty grapefruit and lemon pith dominate, giving the wine its crisp, refreshing backbone and that classic Sauvignon mouth-watering snap.
Ripe Mango Lift
A generous wave of ripe mango and stone fruit balances the citrus tension, this is Sauvignon with sunshine in it, not just green herbs.
Coastal Minerality
A saline, flinty core runs right through the palate, courtesy of the windswept Schapenberg vineyards that sit just above False Bay.
About This Wine
If you've decided the world has enough loud, grassy Sauvignon Blanc, this is the wine for you. The Peacock Wild Ferment comes from the Schapenberg, the coolest, most coastal pocket of Stellenbosch, where False Bay breezes slow ripening, lower yields, and reward patience with finer, more focused fruit. The result is a Sauvignon Blanc that whispers where others shout.
Expect grapefruit pith and lemon zest up front, a streak of ripe mango softening the edges, and a chalky, almost saline minerality running underneath. The wild-yeast fermentation gives the palate a gently honeyed, textured weight you rarely find at this price, while time on the lees adds a creamy roundness without ever blunting the bright, taut finish. It's ripe and generous, but never showy, a properly grown-up Sauvignon.
The fruit is hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed, and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts. Sulphur is the only addition, and a portion of the blend comes from biodynamic vineyards. It's vegan, sustainably certified, and exactly the kind of thoughtful winemaking you'd expect from the team behind Waterkloof.
Open it with barbecued sea bass and fresh ginger, gently spiced Thai green curry, or a goat's cheese salad on a warm afternoon. We deliver across the UK, and at this price, it's the easiest white in your weekly mix to justify by the case.
Food Pairing
Reach for this when there's fish on the table. Barbecued sea bass with fresh ginger is a textbook match, the wine's citrus cuts through the oils, the mineral edge handles the smoke. It also has the weight and gentle exotic fruit to tackle Thai green curry, prawn pad thai, or a Vietnamese summer roll. For something simpler, try it with goat's cheese on toast.
- —Barbecued sea bass with fresh root ginger and spring onion
- —Thai green curry with chicken or prawns
- —Goat's cheese salad with pickled beetroot
- —Vietnamese summer rolls with nuoc cham
- —Grilled mackerel with gooseberry sauce
How to Serve
Temperature
Properly chilled but not ice-cold. An hour in the fridge, or twenty minutes in an ice bucket, is about right.
Decanting
No decanting needed. If you can, pull it from the fridge ten minutes before pouring, letting the temperature creep up slightly unlocks the mango and honeyed lees character that gets muted when it's too cold.
Glass
A medium-sized white wine glass with a slightly tapered rim concentrates the citrus and flinty aromatics beautifully.
Cellaring
Store somewhere cool, dark, and stable if you're keeping it more than a few months. This is a wine to drink, not to lay down for years.
Ageing & Cellaring
Built for early drinking, this is a wine that rewards freshness. Enjoy over the next two to three years to catch the citrus and tropical fruit at their most vivid. A short rest can soften the edges, but there's no need to wait.
The Land
Cool, salt-laden winds off False Bay define the Schapenberg. The exposure forces vines to dig deep and ripen slowly, producing small berries with concentrated, brisk flavours and a mineral spine that runs right through the wine. A portion of fruit comes from a neighbouring biodynamic vineyard, adding texture and lift.
The Winemaking
Hand-harvested fruit from low-yielding bushvines arrives whole-bunch in a horizontal basket press, where gentle squeezing draws only the cleanest, free-run juice. Fermentation kicks off spontaneously with the wild yeasts living on the grape skins, slower, less predictable, but rewarded with greater texture and depth. The wine then settles on its lees for an extended stretch, building that gently honeyed weight that lifts the citrus on the palate. Sulphur aside, nothing else is added. It's also vegan-friendly.
About the Producer
False Bay
False Bay Vineyards is the more accessible sibling to Waterkloof, the celebrated biodynamic estate on the Schapenberg slopes. Both belong to Paul Boutinot, a winemaker who came south chasing a simple idea: that genuinely characterful wine shouldn't cost a fortune. False Bay was built to prove the point. Working with mature, naturally balanced vineyards along the cool Cape coast, the team can let the grapes do most of the talking, fermenting with wild yeasts, intervening only when absolutely necessary. The wines are made by Waterkloof's cellarmaster Nadia Barnard, whose deft hand keeps everything precise and honest. It's old-school craft at an unusually friendly price.