The Winery of Good Hope Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
This is not a Pinot for those who think good red wine needs to be black, oaky and tannic. It is a fragrant, bright Pinot with wonderful succulence and expressive fruitiness. The successful combination of its earthy, mineral & red berry characters make for a really lovely drinking Pinot. Quite an uncommon combination in these parts for this most magnificent cultivar.
variety : Pinot Noir [ 100% Pinot Noir ]
winemaker : Team Effort
wine of origin : Elgin & Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 13.5 % vol rs : 2.4 g/l pH : 3.6 ta : 5.5 g/l
type : Red style : Dry wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Screwcap
in the vineyard : Several parcels over two individual vineyard sites are used in producing this wine. The first at altitude on the cooler mountain slopes of Elgin, the second on the ocean-facing hilltop of Faure, in the Stellenbosch-Helderberg Appellation, facing directly into the False Bay Atlantic breezes. The vines are mostly Dijon clones and density, trellising and canopy management conducted in such a manner that the more subtle characters of Pinot could be best expressed. Green harvest thinning was carried-out sufficiently early in the growing cycle, allowing for focused development of a smaller yield (+/- 35hl / ha). Attention was paid to retaining natural acidity, minerality and purity of fruit. After a winter with good rainfall, the 2010 vintage saw some strange climatic patterns and an uneven, late flowering kicking-off an unusual season. The weird weather continued throughout the season and ultimately, after a hot spell, resulted in an early harvest. This combination, one would expect, would not bode well for fine fruit quality. For reasons not entirely within our understanding (read nature still holds lessons for us), the early ripening varieties –Chenin, Chardonnay, Pinotage, Shiraz & Pinot Noir in particular-gave exceptional quality. So, against the expectations of we mere mortals, our 2010 Pinot Noir is quite stunning.
about the harvest: Our grapes are always hand picked, into small lug-bins at dawn, and brought promptly and while still cool into the Winery.
in the cellar : The challenge we set ourselves with our Pinot each year is to produce an elegant yet juicy Pinot Noir, in what is, relatively-speaking, a Hot Climate (even though certain claim these vineyard areas to be “cool climate”). We wanted to capture the delicacy of Pinot while reflecting the modern viticultural improvements in some of the more fruit-driven Dijon clones (here: 777, 115 & 113). Rigorously hand-sorting the fruit, vinifying tiny parcels in micro-open-top ‘cuvées’(600L oak barrels) with traditional Burgundian methods was our approach. Even in our climtae, it is possible to make wines with balance & finesse. A short pre-fermentation cold-soak kicked us off with each of the parcels, which we fermented separately, up to 3 weeks apart using only natural yeast, the Elgin fruit being harvested last, a couple of weeks after the Stellenbosch fruit. Pump-overs and punch-downs were minimal as we sought to retain elegance and not to over-develop structure. Taking the wine off the skins right after completion of fermentation, the free run juice was placed directly into small, mainly 2nd-, 3rd & 4th fill Burgundian barrels, with only a small proportion of new ones. The pressings were matured separately. Interestingly, right through their maturation, each of the vineyard sites shone through their respective wine and gave a particular dominant facet –the Stellenbosch fruit had a more muscular, dense and earthy Pinot character; the Elgin fruit wonderful juicy cherry and strawberry flavours with clean, mineral acidity and a lingering finish.