Vergelegen Wild Wind Sauvignon Blanc
£12.99
£13.99
£17.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Out of Stock
92Tim Atkin MW
Cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc from Vergelegen's highest, windswept vineyards above False Bay. Guava, honeydew melon and passion fruit lift out of the glass, with a flinty, sea-fresh finish that keeps you pouring another glass. Bright, saline, seriously moreish, and remarkable value for a 92-point Sauvignon.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Our Verdict
We taste a lot of South African Sauvignon Blanc, and Wild Wind consistently punches well above its price bracket. What sets it apart from the tropical-fruit crowd is the flinty, saline edge those wind-lashed Schaapenberg vineyards give it: it's proper cool-climate Sauvignon with genuine tension, not just aromatics. Tim Atkin scored it 92 points, which lines up with what we thought the moment we tasted it. Perfect for anyone who loves Sancerre but wants more generosity, or Marlborough fans ready to trade up on complexity. Our go-to weeknight white under £15.
Tasting Notes
Guava and honeydew melon lift from the glass first, followed by ripe gooseberry, a whisper of passion fruit and that green-pepper snap that tells you this is Sauvignon Blanc doing its job properly. The palate is where it earns its name: flinty, taut, driven by bright acidity with a faint saline lick from the False Bay air. It finishes long and clean, more mineral than tropical, leaving you reaching for the next sip.
About This Wine
You've found the Sauvignon Blanc that quietly outclasses bottles at twice the price. The Wild Wind fruit comes from the Schaapenberg blocks, the highest, most exposed vineyards on the Vergelegen estate, perched above the tumultuous False Bay coast in the Helderberg corner of Stellenbosch. Persistent south-easterly winds off the Atlantic stress the vines and slow ripening, and you can taste every bit of that struggle in the glass. Expect a lifted, aromatic nose of guava, honeydew melon and ripe passion fruit, with a fresh green edge that keeps things honest. The palate is where it really wins you over: flinty, mineral, driven by bright natural acidity and a whisper of sea-salt salinity that comes from those wind-battered slopes six kilometres from the ocean. Hand-picked, fermented in stainless steel with a mix of yeasts to build aromatic depth, and given regular lees stirring for texture. Nothing overworked, nothing hidden behind oak. Just pure, precise Sauvignon Blanc with genuine sense of place. Pour it well chilled with fresh oysters, grilled sea bass, a Thai green curry, or a summer salad with goat's cheese and toasted seeds. Equally happy on its own as a garden aperitif when the British summer finally shows up. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK, and a smart, gift-worthy choice for anyone missing the Cape.
Food Pairing
Made for the sea. Freshly shucked oysters with a squeeze of lemon are the obvious call, but it's equally at home with grilled sea bass, a plate of prawns off the barbecue, or a summer salad of goat's cheese, peas and mint. The saline lift and bright acid also handle Thai fish cakes or a lemony risotto with real ease.
- —Freshly shucked oysters with lemon and shallot vinegar
- —Grilled sea bass with herb butter
- —Goat's cheese, pea and mint salad
- —Thai green fish cakes with lime dipping sauce
- —Prawn and chorizo skewers off the barbecue
How to Serve
Decanting
No need to decant. This is an unwooded, aromatic style built on freshness and lift, so pour it straight from a well-chilled bottle. If anything, opening ten minutes before serving lets the guava aromatics unfurl.
Ageing & Cellaring
Built for freshness, not the cellar. Drink young while the guava, passion fruit and flinty snap are at their most vivid, ideally within two to three years of the vintage. Hold it longer and you'll lose the aromatic lift that makes it sing.
The Land
The Wild Winds fruit is grown on the Schaapenberg and lower Schaapenberg blocks, the highest, most exposed sites on the farm. They face south, straight into False Bay just six kilometres away. Relentless south-easterly winds stress the vines, thicken the skins and slow ripening, while the maritime air keeps canopies cool. That's where the wine's saline lift and bright natural acidity come from.
The Winemaking
Picking happens by hand over an extended window, so each block comes in at its own moment of ripeness. In the cellar, the fruit is destemmed and given a mix of inert and oxidative pressing, a deliberate choice that builds aromatic layers without stripping freshness. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel using a range of yeasts, each drawing out a different facet of the fruit. Regular lees stirring softens the naturally taut acidity, and the wine is then blended, filtered and bottled with no oak in sight.
About the Producer
Vergelegen
Vergelegen has been making wine since 1700, founded by Cape governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and now standing as the third-oldest winemaking estate in the country. Anglo American took stewardship in 1987 and committed to the kind of long-horizon thinking the place deserves, restoring 2,240 hectares of native fynbos across the 3,000-hectare estate and earning South Africa's first BWI 'Champion' status for its conservation work. The winery itself is built into a hilltop, an octagonal structure echoing the walled garden van der Stel laid out three centuries ago. Today Luke O'Cuinneagain leads the cellar, bringing experience from Bordeaux, California and Stellenbosch, and a quiet philosophy of minimal intervention and patient stewardship.