Tag Archives: Mountain White

Thelema Mountain White

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Grilled OystersGrilled Oysters with White Wine Butter Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

  • 12 shucked Atlantic or Pacific oysters

White Wine Compound Butter:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 clove garlic, finely grated (try a microplane grater to finely grate the garlic so there are no chunks)
  • 1 tablespoon dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon diced chives
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ tablespoon finely diced parsley

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat the grill and prepare for direct grilling with lump charcoal. Target the temperature in the grill at 500ºF.
  2. For the Compound Butter: Combine all ingredients in small bowl with a fork. Use 1 heaping teaspoon of compound butter per oyster. Reserve some to add more after they come off the grill.
  3. Layer slightly crumbled aluminum foil onto a sheet pan. Place shucked oysters onto sheet pan and gently press down so the oysters sit well on the pan.
  4. Place one heaping teaspoon of the butter into each oyster.
  5. Place gently over direct heat and grill for 4 – 6 minutes. The butter will bubble and remove when you start to see the edges of the oyster flesh slightly brown. Remove with high heat gloves or tongs. However, tongs can be difficult with the edges of oysters causing the liquid to fall out.
  6. Serve warm in the half shell over a plate that has been layered with coarse salt.

© Recipe courtesy of Vindulge.

JULY WINE CLUB:

Crisp Wine StyleThelema-Mountain-White-bottleThelema Mountain Vineyards
Mountain White
Stellenbosch, South Africa

CRISP WINE STYLE

This vibrant aromatic wine exhibits beautiful passionfruit and gooseberry aromas which merge with hints of apricot and melon on the nose. The palate is medium bodied with a crisp clean finish. The Sauvignon Blanc provides fresh, natural acidity, while the Viognier adds palate weight, layers of complexity and depth to the wine.

WINE DETAILS:

  • Varietals: 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Viognier
  • Analysis: 13.5% alcohol / volume
  • Residual Sugar: 1.4 g/l
  • pH: 3.22
  • Total Acid: 6.7 g/l
  • Food Pairing: Cheeses, oysters or delicate fish like sole

VITICULTURAL PRACTICES:

  • Root stock: 101-14
  • Soil type: Tukulu / Glenrosa
  • Age of vines: Planted 2005, 2006
  • Plant density: 2500 vines/ha
  • Trellising: 7 wire Perold with moveable foliage wires
  • Pruning: Spur
  • Irrigation: Supplementary drip
  • Grape sugar: 22.5ºB
  • Acidity: 7.6 g/l
  • pH at harvest: 3.24

WINEMAKING PRACTICES:

  • Yeasts: Vin7 / QA23
  • Fermentation temp: 57.2ºF
  • Method: The grapes were gently de-stemmed, pumped through our mash cooler, (Glycol set at 41°F) to cool the fruit down, received a dose of pectolytic enzymes, as well as a small amount of SO2 to aid in the juice clarification process, prevent oxidation, and spontaneous fermentations. Once the press is full the cycle is started, and the juice is moved to a holding tank. Clarification takes place via floatation in the late afternoon and the juice is moved to its fermentation tanks early the following morning. They inoculate with a commercial yeast strain, the ferment runs at 57.2°F, to maintain a progressive yet stable fermentation curve. The wines are left on their gross lees for 5 months after which the winery team will rack them and add a light fining to clean them up a bit for evaluation. After tasting, their winemaking team decides on the final blend, the blend is made and the wine is prepared for bottling.
© Thelema Mountain Vineyards
© Thelema Mountain Vineyards
© Thelema Mountain Vineyards

ABOUT THELEMA MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS:
The name Thelema comes from the monk, François Rabelais, a doctor and writer in sixteenth-century France who imagined a utopian abbey on the banks of the Loire. Contrasting to the religious orders of his day, this community admitted both men and women, and encouraged them to live together in great luxury. Only one law governed its members: “Fay ce que couldras” – “Do what thou wilt!”. This was the Abbey of Thélème. Here, Rabelais spent a lot of his time thinking and writing about wine. Some of his most memorable quotes being, “Wine is the most civilized thing on earth”, and “Never did a great man hate good wine”. Thus, the name of the vineyard on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. Learn more about the winery history here.

Information © Thelema Mountain Vineyards – All Rights Reserved.

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