Terroir-istes Local - Pinot Noir, Hemel en Aarde

A focus into Hemel en Aarde Pinot Noirs all from the 2015 vintage

• 2015 Storm Wines (South Africa) Pinot Noir Ignis 92 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): A light garnet colour towards a subtle orange rim. Lifted aromas start a little reductive with fresh rubber before blowing off to reveal dried cranberry and fresh red cherry. Intense on entry, the wine is bright, well-structured and precise, with a chalky texture and fresh tart acidity.
  Penetrating with plenty of juicy fruits and well-managed oak integration, this is an elegant wine with increasing strawberry and rose petals and a dusting of baking spices. It is very accessible, with a touch of bitterness toward the finish, but this doesn't hold it back; it lingers.

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• 2015 La Vierge Pinot Noir 88 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Light garnet with a bricking rim, indicating some age. It is a little reductive at first, but then deep fruity aromas with spices emerge. There is quite a jammy, plummy note. A rich and full palate with a good depth of flavour but lacking vibrancy or freshness results in a heavier, more cumbersome wine with a little fat. There are noticeable oak spices with notes of sweet plum and caramelized brown sugar. Grainy, slightly coarse finish with a warming alcohol, the wine remains intense it a medium finish.
  Polished, commercial style.

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• 2015 Newton Johnson Pinot Noir Family Vineyards 87 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Light garnet with a bricking rim. The bouquet is interesting, with quite ripe, jammy, raspberry-centred fruits mixed with savoury notes of vegetable soup and button mushroom. Not that fresh either on the palate the wine has a ripe fruit profile with a heavy, almost oily texture. rich yet leaden-footed, with a notable presence of glycerol, the wine feels ponderous with only medium acidity to support. This augmented a bitterness on the mid-palate, yet stone fruits, raspberry, mint, Ribena, and some toasty oak emerge in between. One could argue there is complexity, yet I felt the heaviness and phenolics detracted from the overall experience.

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• 2015 Creation Wines Pinot Noir 93 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay

  (Tasted Blind): It is light ruby with a slight orange rim. It initially has subtle fragrant aromas, with a slight filter powder note before strawberry, coffee grinds, and ripe red cherry emerge.
  This is a pretty wine. It has a lovely intensity of flavour, a light powdery texture, and tangy acidity, with a core of creamed strawberries and juicy cherry pulp. Well-integrated oak balances the wine nicely. There is depth, and fine, succulent tannins. With a warming finish, the length lingers.

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• 2015 Creation Wines Pinot Noir Reserve 87 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Light ruby. Ripe and intense strawberry fruit dominates with a hint of spice.
  It is a soft, approachable wine with good fruit penetration and toasty oak. Polished with sweet fruits of raspberry pastilles, strawberry drops, and cherry cola - almost towards a Russian River styling.
  The sweetness is mouth-coating and slightly aggressive. Some acidity tries to balance but it lacks mid-palate complexity. Fairly long, the soft tannins do provide a frame. Wood influence grows in glass with some chocolate notes.

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• 2015 Creation Wines Pinot Noir Art of Pinot Noir 84 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay

  (Tasted Blind): Light ruby. Vegetal notes with lees and brown sugar meshed with ripe red fruits.
  A coarse, leesy entry with sweet, ripe fruits, smoke, and eucalyptus, fairly full-weight with liqueur-filled chocolates. I found this quite a challenging wine as the mid-plus acidity wasn't enough to offset the sweeter fruit, leading to a clumsy, leaden-footed style. There was also quite a grippy extract, leading to a harsh note on the finish—almost tar-like. However, it finishes long with dark cherry but seemed all-at-sea. Not perhaps my style.

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• 2015 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir 89 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Light crimson. Attractive fragrant aromas of light red berries with integrated toasty oak and a fudge-like quality. A light and flowing entry, the wine is filled with fresh sweet fruits and balanced by a lively acidity, keeping it fresh and buoyant. Light, integrated tannins are very approachable without lots of depth but nice edges of tilled soil, forest floor and morello cherry. Medium finish. Modern.

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• 2015 Storm Wines (South Africa) Pinot Noir Vrede 86 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-ruby. The nose is initially muted but slowly reveals ripe strawberries, cherry pastilles and turned earth, with a herbal, medicinal note also coming forward.
  The palate entry is back to strawberry and cherry with a fairly extracted grippy, mineral texture that pulls on the palate. Finishes drying with noticeable alcohol and fairly coarse tannins. The red fruits start to be joined by darker fruits, and there is a nice juicy acidity and decent structure trying to keep it all together but ending with a sappy, drying finish. It felt unintegrated at present and felt tight yet does have a good concentration to open up later.
  2015 are wines that should age. Low yields the wine spent 11 months in 228-litre French oak barrels of which 0 25% new. RS 3.1 g/l, TA 5.9 g/l, pH 3.48.

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• 2015 Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir Galpin Peak 86 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-garnet. The nose presents a fragrant nose with menthol, oak spices, cherry cola and some red berries. The palate is sweet and round with noticeable cough syrup and medicinal flavours accented by eucalyptus, Rainer cherries, and vanilla fudge, giving a sense of opulence. Yet...ripe fruit tries to keep in tandem with the present, hard tannins that rise towards the finish, slightly truncating it. Quite oaky too.

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• 2015 Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir 90 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

  (Tasted Blind): Pale to light crimson, almost onion skin. Lightly perfumed strawberry with a little evolution. The palate has a lightness of touch, deft use of oak and good flavour intensity. With sweet spices, red berries, and a juicy core, the wine is seductive, with plenty of depth and a long, lingering finish. Oak is still prominent but doesn't detract.

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• 2015 Storm Wines (South Africa) Pinot Noir Ridge 93 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

  (Tasted Blind): Light ruby. Fragrant, pretty fruit with lots of cherries and strawberry aromas.
  This light-bodied wine has juicy red berries, a chalky texture, and stem inclusion. It is attractive and has a nice balance of sweet fruits and savoury peppery stems. It is long with fine, gravelly tannins and a touch of alcohol.
  Granitic soils

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• 2015 Ataraxia Pinot Noir Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 85 Points

  South Africa, Cape South Coast, Walker Bay, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

  (Tasted Blind): Pale to light crimson with orange-y edges. Tertiary bouquet with earth, briary dark fruits, smoke, singed charcoal and charcuterie.
  Ripe and heavy on entry, it lacks vibrancy and feels leaden-footed. There is richness to the core, but the wine seems to be tiring. There are some button mushrooms, earth, and underbrush with woodsmoke. The tannins are chunky, and the wine finishes medium. Ponderous.

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