Description
Tasting notes
The Kloof Vineyard is dry land farmed and produces wine that is totally unique to South Africa. Our 2021 Single Vineyard Kloof Pinot Noir has an inviting pretty, floral, perfumed nose with an abundance of pure red fruits that include cherries, raspberries and strawberries. The palate is soft, gentle and alluring, intricate yet layered, with fine powdery chalky tannins and lively acidity – perfectly balanced. The wine is exciting with good intensity and texture, and has significant ageing potential.
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 are destemmed without crushing. Grapes cold soaked for 5-7 days prior to the start of fermentation. Fermentation occurs naturally in open top fermenters. During the fermentation, the skin cap was punched through gently by hand twice a day and fermentation temperature peaked at 28°C. The wines were transferred to 500L and 300L French oak barrels where malolactic fermentation took place (20% new wood, the rest 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill). Maturation in oak was for 12 months, on the lees for the full period. After aging for 12 months in barrel, the wines are racked and blended in stainless steel tank. The wines were clarified naturally for a period of 2 months before bottling.
Vintage Notes
The 2021 vintage experienced a typical cold Elgin winter, with snow on the high mountain peaks and high winter rainfall, after 5 years of very dry and unusually warm winter conditions. This enabled good vine dormancy. Bud break took place in ideal warm and sunny conditions. The impact of below than average winter rains in the previous years and windy conditions during October and November resulted in very uneven flowering. As a result, berry set was uneven leading to smaller berries that have good concentration of flavours. Cool weather conditions during December and January slowed down ripening. The 2021 vintage was characterised by late rainfall and increased the risk of disease. Sorting was again crucial this year and the fruit that remained shows wonderful intensity and fruit concentration. The late rain helped nourish the soils and more importantly, helped the vine focus on grape ripening rather than foliage growth, resulting in concentrated berries with low pH and lower sugar levels. The net result of the later vintage and very cool weather conditions in 2021, is that the grapes had high natural acidity, achieved steady phenolic ripeness and plenty of intense and concentrated fruit flavours.
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