A collaboration between Wijngoed Gelders Laren (in Gelderland), Diederik Walhof and Rose Groot from “Design en Wijn” (who designed the label). The wine was vinified and bottled at Neerlands Wijnmakerij, Bentelo, Overijssel.
Cabernet Blanc was chosen for the blend. Although it apparently gives little colour to the wine, it is rich in aromas.
I found it very stalky and vegetal on the nose, with a lot of green capsicum and the rather twangy herbal aromas that I associate with hybrid grape varieties.
There are very fine phenolics, the skin contact feels like it’s added a bit of texture to the wine, but where are the flavours?
The relatively high alcohol and low acidity came as an unwelcome surprise, although admittedly 2018 was one of the Netherland’s hottest ever summers, with temperatures reaching almost 40C in some parts of the country.
A small amount of the 2019 vintage was added to the final blend in an attempt to increase the acidity.
While I applaud the effort here, the final wine isn’t really successful. The addition of selected yeasts, and (I guess?) filtration and fining has resulted in a neutral wine that lacks lift or excitement. For me, it just doesn’t show enough skin fermentation character, nor does it have the freshness that I’d expect in a Dutch wine.
95% Cabernet Blanc – 85% Skin Fermented for 40 days, 5% not skin fermented, 5% from 2019 (for the acidity), 5% Solaris 2019