Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A tightly coiled, racy style that relies on a piercing iron note through the core of cherry and raspberry coulis flavors. Lots of sous-bois and black tea elements line the finish, with the minerality easily winning out in the end. Drink now through 2018.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Wild, crazy and pure, the 2013 Storm Moya's is a Pinot Noir of excellent pedigree and richness; flavors in this wine come from the earth. Whether you are an Old World or new world imbiber, this one will excite the taste buds on your tongue. Medium brick color, edgy with browning notes on the rim; aromatic nose of some rose petals accented with notes of orange rind and sweet earth; medium bodied, subtle and sedate on the palate; slightly Old World kind of flavors, yet serving up quite a bit of fruit; long in the finish, soft touch in the aftertaste. (Tasted: March 18, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir Moya's, which comes from the northern slope of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, was cropped at 2.1 tons per hectare and is raised entirely in François Freres oak barrels, 30% of which are new. It has a more outgoing and complex bouquet compared to the 2013 Vrede, with raspberry coulis and wild strawberry scents, rose petals and tilled earth. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit and fleshy in the mouth with a slight savoriness developing towards the finish, with a pleasant bitter cherry edge. Very fine, though a paltry 70 cases exist.
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.”
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.