Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Pinot Noir displays a true reflection of fruit from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. Layers of subtle notes of red cherries and raspberries with combined hints of cloves and baking spices.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Softly herbal with fresh cherry blossoms and potpourri essence, the 2022 Pinot Noir offers a dusty yet floral lift. A kiss of brown baking spices floats out of the glass. Medium-bodied and with 13% alcohol, the wine possesses energetic acidity that beams in the mouth, showcasing a delightful and balanced tannic structure before ending with a food-friendly finish. This will be amazing with spiced salmon fillets and duck breast.
-
James Suckling
Inviting, spicy nose of grilled mushrooms, charred herbs, cherries and warm spices. It's flavorful and mellow, medium-bodied, with creamy tannins and a deliciously spicy finish.
-
Wine Spectator
An elegant red, with a delicate, herbal overtone, boasting ripe and juicy black cherry and black raspberry fruit. Gains depth from an underpinning of smoke, zesty ground white pepper and anise, while creamy tannins lend definition to the finish.
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.