Community Tasting Notes 25

• ndijss Likes this wine: 92 points

  February 3, 2024 - Drinking this after Laurent Perrier NV Brut.
  Amazing pinot, fruit forward, sour cherry, smokey (bacon fat?), complex and with medium+ length with fine tannins. Drink between now and 4 years. Amazing glass of wine, especially after Dry January haha! Cheers all.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Bonvivant99 Likes this wine: 91 points

  July 23, 2023 - 91BV - 48EUR
  -
  Let's see what the fuss is about. Expressive fruit-forward nose betrays its new world origin. In a blind tasting I would put this at Oregon. Tart cherry and raspberry with underlying clove and vanilla. Supported by a beautiful smokey character. A tad weighty and dense on the mid palate, now I'm thinking Pommard. Tannins are smooth. Finish is impressive, beautiful fruit lingers on for seconds. Drinking great now but this will only benefit from cellaring. Slightly overpriced but hey, I'm just happy I can drink some well made pinot. Cheers

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• kostaslonis wrote:

  July 1, 2023 - 10th MW Symposium, Wiesbaden - Day 3: Alcohol 13.5%, 2.3 g/l residual sugar, 5.5 g/l acidity, 3.48 pH
  Vineyard: NE to NW facing vineyards at an altitude of 80m-150m, 2 km from the cold South Atlantic ocean. Mostly PN115 and PN113 Dijon Selection clones with some PN667. Cool, strongly maritime, Mediterranean climate, with annual rainfall of approximately 840mm, principally in the winter.
  Yield: 14.67 hl/ha, 10-20yo vines
  Soil Type: 400-million-year-old Bokkeveld Shale derived clay. Iron rich with a clay content of 35-55%.
  
  Harvest Notes: Handpicked into small lug boxes. Picking starts early in the morning and grapes are packed in a cold room until being processed. Vineyard parcels fermented separately and triage is done to ensure optimal ripeness.
  Vinification: Fruit is destemmed but not crushed. Fermentation in 5 ton open fermenters. Up to 15% whole cluster included. Cold soak for approximately 48 hours. Fermentation usually lasts about 12 days. The wine is then gently pressed and allowed to settle before going to barrel for MLF.
  Malolactic fermentation: MLF in barrel.
  Maturation: 10 months in 228 litre tight grained French oak barrels, 1st fill 35%, 2nd fill 47% and 3rd fill 18%, Blonde Toast 55%, Medium Toast 31% and Medium Long Toast 14%. French Coopers: Francois Freres 100%.
  Oak influence: We aim to add structure and spice, rather than sweet oak aromas.
  Months in bottle: 4
  
  -/-
  
  Shows density, tight, sour cherry in the back, currants, black fruit, some licorice tones, a few heavier floral notes, caramel notes.
  Big body, juicy sweetish tart, not fruity, nutty, med acidity, thick oak frame, warmth, tight texture, harsh for now, med finish

  Comment

• funderwood10 wrote: 90 points

  April 29, 2023 - Portale dinner, paired with octopus lumache and duck. Easy to pair with practically anything, it’s floral, fun, and perky but also very collaborative.
  
  Took an hour to open up much more. At first was a bit muted and not very integrated. Could age easily another decade but still quite beautiful right now

  Comment

• Mark1npt Likes this wine: 92 points

  June 2, 2022 - Well, here goes......lost all my taste and smell with covid a few weeks ago but it seems to be coming back in just the last day or two. So take these words with a modicum of doubt.....this is the first bottle I'm grading post (my 3rd bout) of covid.......
  
  Pnp'd to an obvious pinot nose with bright acidity, tart red fruit and a hint if greenery/herbs/weeds? which blew off over an hour. To me, in my current state, this drinks best with 3 hours of air as it evens out and all comes together. Lighter in weight than say a Sojourn pinot, yet very pure and focused on what it is. Some clove/spices intermingled with the cherry fruit and herbs de Provence. There is an earthiness here which is quite pleasant and in the background, a wonderful bead of acidity lending backbone. A very pleasant 20+ second finish is noted, too. Carol when blindly asked, seconds the score so I feel pretty good about it.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 6

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2018
• Type Red
• Producer Hamilton Russell Vineyards
• Varietal Pinot Noir
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country South Africa
• Region Cape South Coast
• SubRegion Walker Bay
• Appellation Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
• UPC Codes 089419937688, 2086113295449, 6002525000279

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 388 (64%)
• Consumed 218 (36%)

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