Winemaker Notes
This wine has a lovely luminosity – the color is bright crimson. The nose has delicate earthy aromas combined with red and dark berry flavors. On the palate, these characteristics follow through combining with interesting savory notes and just a touch of oak on the finish.
The natural acidity makes it a perfect partner with a diversity of dishes. Game fish, game birds, and
venison work very well, as does grilled beef and strong, hard cheese.
Vegan-friendly
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Attractive savoury nose full of cedar, wood smoke, cold tea, redcurrant and cranberry sauce. Assertive tannin with dry tobacco notes.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Paul Cluver Pinot Noir is an Old World-style example of this grape variety. TASTING NOTES: This wine delivers aromas and flavors of rustic spices, dried earth, and red fruits. Enjoy it with grilled salmon. (Tasted: October 26, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Within this unique environment exists virgin land some 400-500m above sea level with a variety of soils, aspects and microclimates. The high, cool Elgin Mountain plateau, with its close proximity to the sea and protection by the mountins, is idealy situated for the production of premium varietal wines. this provides the ideal environment for slower ripening grapes of finess and delicacy that characterise Paul Cluver Wines.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
This high-elevation, cool-climate district, nestled into the ancient sandstone Hottentots Holland Mountains, traditionally was apple orchard land. Today Elgin is also a source of exceptional Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir.