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.
July 23, 2023 - 91BV - 48EUR
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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
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
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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
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
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.
April 19, 2022 - Monthly Tuesday group "The Dead Sparrow"; Pinot Noir worldwide: Earthy, floral, and spicy bouquet with red fruits and some rustic impressions. On the palate earth, herbs and spices, red berries, good acidity and mild tannin. A touch of sweetness, vanilla and slightly drying in the finish.
December 12, 2021 - Smoky red and dark cherry on nose, medium bodied with medium+ acid and medium tannin and dark fruit, sour cherry and earth on palate. Balanced but not yet we’ll integrated. Not sure this vintage will ever get there.
June 11, 2021 - Tasted blind. Incorrectly identified as being from Oregon.
Bright ruby color, sweet cherries in the unexpressive nose. Crisp acidity but not much other than acid and fruit. Too young.
April 10, 2021 - Pale ruby, clear throughout.
Intense nose. Slightly funky notes straight out of the bottle, but with aeration it blows off to reveal notes of unripe cherry, cilantro, warm cedar, dust, rain on hot asphalt.
On the palate unripe black cherry, sour plum, stem, dusty soil. Strawberry comes out later with more air.
A medium length finish with more sour cherry and a faint hint of nail polish.
Medium minus body, medium alcohol, medium plus acidity, fine grained but firm, drying tannins.
This needs air to bring out the fruit, but once you coax it out, it becomes rounder and pleasant to drink.
Day 3: Strawberry, cherry and soft baking spices are pronounced. The tannins have softened and the mouthfeel is velvety. Delicious. Definitely worth some bottle aging or opening a day before drinking.
March 3, 2021 - Superb! Smoked game meat abound with dark crimson fruit. Soft tannins but power in flavour.