Community Tasting Notes 2

• forceberry wrote: 92 points

  April 30, 2022 - The debut vintage of this label. 100% biodynamically farmed Pinot Noir sourced from three vineyards: General Botha, General Warren and Mahatma Gandhi. Average vine age 7 years. 90% destemmed, 10% whole bunches. After destemming, the fruit was cold-soaked for a week, then fermented spontaneously. Aged for 11 months on fine lees in oak barrels, bottled unfined and unfiltered. 12,6% alcohol, 1,9 g/l residual sugar, 6,1 g/l acidity and pH 3,24. Tasted blind.
  
  Translucent brick-red color with an evolved maroon hue. Dry and noticeably smoky nose with aromas of salami and charred, greasy bacon, some crunchy cranberry tones, a little bit of savory wood spice, a little bit of earthy Pinosity, a fragrant hint of damp coniferous forest and a touch of brambly raspberry. The wine is savory, juicy and slightly sunny on the palate with a medium body and dry flavors of crunchy cranberry and ripe black raspberry, some salty-meaty notes of salami, a little bit of gravelly minerality, light gamey tones, a rubbery hint of latex and a peppery touch of spicy Pinosity. The overall feel is rather stern and sinewy for a Pinot Noir, thanks to its high acidity and moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long, complex and moderately grippy with ripe yet savory flavors of gamey meat and slightly smoky and salty salami character, some brambly notes of raspberry, a little bit of gravelly minerality, light crunchy notes of cranberries, a hint of tar and a touch of savory wood.
  
  A rather smoky and surprisingly stern South-African Pinot Noir. The smoky tones made most attendees think of South Africa immediately and only the variety was something of a mystery. The overall feel was that of a Cinsaut, but also Pinotage and Pinot Noir were viable options. Most people went with Cinsaut, some people thought it was Pinotage (based on the rather ripe and somewhat tannic nature of the wine) whereas a few - me included - thought it was Pinot Noir. Which it turned out to be. Some people has problems with the smokier notes, but I found the wine to be very nice, enjoyably complex and sporting quite lovely, firm structure. Although the appearance suggested that the wine had some age, on the palate it didn't come across as particularly evolved and I can see the wine actually improving for a good handful of years more. If a stern and somewhat smoky style of structured Pinot is up your alley, this wine is definitely worth a check. Priced according to its quality at 27,50€.

  Comment

• jerkerdelsing Does not like this wine: 80 points

  July 24, 2019 - Strong nose of ashes and some smokeness. The same goes for the palet. The fruit is very much covered by the ash taste. Medium to high acidity.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 0

• No pro reviews found.

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2013
• Type Red
• Producer Spioenkop
• Varietal Pinot Noir
• Designation Elgin
• Vineyard n/a
• Country South Africa
• Region Western Cape
• SubRegion n/a
• Appellation n/a
• UPC Code 6009900248318

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 5 (17%)
• Consumed 25 (83%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine