Reserve Pinot Noir (W Cape)

These grapes come from two vineyards in Stanford and Stellenbosch, both consisting of Burgundian clones 115 and 777. Over the winter, rainfall figures came close to the long-term average for Stellenbosch, which came as a relief to many. The cool daytime conditions (and especially nights!) of December and January meant that the grapes ripened with lovely acidity and great freshness, all at lower alcohol levels. In 2019, Stanford saw very moderate conditions, the average daytime temperature over December and January being only 24 ͦC. This meant that we had to harvest the Pinot a touch earlier than normal, which lead to great purity of fruit and racy acidity.

The berries were co-fermented using natural ferments. We made use of our hoist system which enabled us to lift the berries into the tanks and use gravity to drop them in and carry out 100% whole berry fermentation of both clones. We employed gentle extraction and the berries were gently basket pressed for pure and fine tannins. The wine was then matured in stainless steel tanks for 8 months and then for 2 months in 228L barrels, equal 2nd, 3rd & 4th fill Burgundian barrels. As with all our wines we used minimal SO2 and this was not fined.