Tasting Notes
The wine shows a vibrant garnet colour with a youthful appearance. On the nose the wine shows pronounced lifted floral perfume with a brooding and seductive red berry fruit, earthy, wild mushrooms, and hints of spice. On the palate there are very pure Pinot fruit flavours on entry with red cherry and musk flavours coupled with fresh acidity. The wine has layered complexity with great elegance and finesse. Fine lacy, almost powdery tannin on the finish.
Ageing Potential
Ageing potential of 5 - 10 years, provided wine is stored in ideal cellar conditions.
Food Suggestions
Enjoy with white and red meats, duck, Parma ham, grilled line fish, tuna, wild mushrooms and traditional cheeses.
In The Vineyard
As with all our wines, the Pinot Noir is a true expression of the Meerlust estate and illustrates the unique climate and soil of the farm. The wine draws fruit from blocks located on one of our four distinctive terroirs. Each terroir provides a unique element to the final blend.
Compagniesdrift - The soils from this warm north facing slope are predominantly formed from weathered granite. The wines originating from this granitic hilltop are expressive and bold in structure, mainly due to the coarse gravelly texture and sufficient soil depth to promote long and even ripening.
River Terraces - Sandy soils laced with rounded river stones allow for excellent root proliferation. This area of the Estate experiences the greatest shift between day and night temperatures, promoting flavour development of these delicate and fruit forward wines.
Quarry - The extremely rocky terrain consisting of greywacke with interbedded shales provides a unique substrate for vines. Shallow rooted vines on this cool and windswept foot slope leads to wines with characteristic red fruit with exceptional length, detail, and precision.
Lowlands - The remains of an ancient estuary are marked by clay-rich soils from deeply weathered greywacke and shales. The wines from this generally cool south facing, clay-rich terroir is typically smooth and silky in texture with prominent black fruit.
About The Harvest
Our growing season began mild and dry which was largely beneficial for earlier ripening varieties like Pinot Noir. It also limited berry size and yields which benefited our red varieties. The area experienced a cool ripening period in general, that aided early cultivars but could be problematic for late ripening varieties. We however saw rapid flavour development and the vast majority of our vineyards were harvested before the rains began in all earnest. This resulted in bright flavourful wines that show good levels of extraction at good pH and acidity levels.
In The Cellar
Grapes were handpicked from two blocks. Grapes were destemmed and crushed to small fermenters. Light handling during fermentation allowed gentle extractions resulting in elegant structure. Maturation took place in new and second fill 300L barrels.
