The 2024 Elgin Highlands Pinot Noir is perfumed with a floral nose of rose petals, black and red cherries, strawberries and underlying spice notes. The palate is textured, succulent and complex, with a long savoury finish. Vibrant acidity and fine grained chalky tannins make this a powerful and exceptional age worthy wine. This is classic, focussed Pinot Noir.
Elgin Highlands
2024 Elgin Highlands Pinot Noir
R420.00
Perfumed with a floral nose of rose petals, black and red cherries, strawberries and underlying spice notes. This is classic, focussed Elgin Highlands Pinot Noir.
-
Description
-
Accolades
Accolades
“An incredibly pure and perfumed aromatics greet you with a fragrant embrace, showing lifted notes of cranberry and bramble berries, cracked red peppercorns, wild strawberry and red currant fruits. Wonderfully delicate and intricate on the palate, the purity and precision of fruit is once again front and foremost in the mind with a pithy bramble berry spice, silky black raspberry and cherry fruits before stony, mineral, fine-grained tannins coat the palate. The mouthfeel and textural harmony on the wine are next level, enlivened by bright tangy acids and a long, mouthwatering, juicy fruited finish with just the faintest of savoury, earthy nuances. A wine that tastes slightly riper than previous vintages but also more complete in many ways. Very classy indeed. Drink now to 2030+.”
GREG SHERWOOD MW [ 93/100 ]
TIM ATKIN MW 2023 SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAL REPORT [ 93/100 ]
“Zesty, smoky nose with plenty of red fruit and savoury elements. Very elegant and harmonious with fine tannins. Persistent finish.”
DECANTER WORLD WIDE AWARDS [ 92/100 ]
“Again, subtlest of the pinots, very refined spiced cherry and aromatic tobacco nuances from 3 blocks on sandstone and clay-underlain silica quartz. Similar vinification to siblings but this with 8% whole bunches added. Less new oak in 19, 25% new, previously 34%. Ageworthy.”
PLATTER’S WINE GUIDE [ 4½ stars – 90/100 ]
“Aromas of green strawberries, black tea and hibiscus. Medium-bodied with silky tannins. Bright, pretty and charming. I like the clarity. Very steady throughout. Drink or hold.”
JAMESSUCKLING.COM [ 92/100 ]
“Bright, transparent garnet. Pure and fresh. Sweet and yet lively. Very slight greenness but overall very pure. Chalky chewy finish. Better than the components!”
JANCIS ROBINSON MW [ 17/20 ]
HIGHLY COMMENDED, THE WINE MERCHANT MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 WINES
OLD MUTUAL TROPHY WINE SHOW 2021, HIGHEST SCORING PINOT NOIR [ 94/100 ]
“Incredibly smart nose, with the earth, bracken, rose petal and compost of proper maturing Pinot. Still bright with cranberry and raspberry fruit. Supple tannin, whistle-clean and with lovely savoury nuance on the finish – excellent clarity and delicacy.”
RICHARD HEMMING MW [ 17.5 ]
“Beautiful glimmers of completeness – the vineyards delivered in a bottle. In a Cape context a knockout for me, a serious example, one to watch and to begin collecting.”
JOHN PLATTER’S MY KIND OF WINE -
Technical Details
Technical Details
ALCOHOL 13.8% RESIDUAL SUGAR 2.8 g/l TOTAL ACIDITY 5.5 g/l PH 3.5 -
Winemaking
Winemaking
Grapes were hand harvested into small crates and spent overnight in a cold room. Extensive bunch sorting by hand prior to destemming occured. Bunches were destemmed without crushing. Grapes were cold soaked for 5-7 days prior to the start of fermentation. Fermentation occured naturally in open top fermenters. A combination of gentle punchdowns and pumpovers by hand 2 times per day, depending on requirements, were used during fermentation where the temperature peaked at 28°C.
The wines were transferred to 300L French oak barrels where malolactic fermentation took place (20% new wood, the rest 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill). Maturation in oak was for 15 months, on the lees for the full period. After ageing for 15 months in barrel, the wines were racked and blended (50% Kroon, 50% Beeskamp) in stainless steel tank. The wines were clarified naturally for a period of 2 months before bottling.
-
Vintage Notes
Vintage Notes
The 2024 season was characterised by two main factors, record-breaking winter rainfall persisting into September and notable heat spikes in January and February. The winter months provided us with good rainfall and cold average minimum temperatures which pushed our vines into deep dormancy. Spring got off to a cold and wet start, which led to budbreak being about a week to 2 weeks later than previous years. The remainder of the growing phase from October to December 2023 was drier than normal.
Later flowering was aided by the warmer weather, but windy conditions during this period led to the forming of smaller bunches and berries. January and February experienced notably heat spikes. Proximity to the cold Atlantic Ocean and altitude are the two main factors contributing to making Iona one of the coolest vineyards sites in the country. So, while we experience excessive heat spikes during this period, our vines were still busy going through veraison and the warmer drier weather help the bunches to go through veraison quickly, leading to the maturity of the berries being more even.
The quality of the grapes that arrived at the cellar were exceptional. Smaller bunches and berries contributed to wines with lovely flavour and concentration and the resulting wines are showing beautiful expressive fruit, with lovely fruit concentration and bright acidities, giving the wine great vibrancy and tension.
