The wine opens with an attractive nose of cherry and raspberry sherbet. This is followed by aromatic pops of Madagascan pink peppercorn and fennel. Beneath the fresh, bright façade, more brooding currant elements provide added depth.

On the palate, delicate seams of fresh red cherry and strawberry fruit are sewn over fine grippy tannins. As the fruit fades towards the aft, the aromatic pink peppercorn spice, and deeper touches of fennel emerge once again.

The 2023 vintage was a splendidly smooth ride for Elgin vignerons. Winter was delightfully cold, ensuring deep dormancy for the vines. As Winter retreated, Spring arrived, bringing with it punctual and even budding on the vines. Rainfall was slightly lower than the previous year, but even this was useful, as it lowered vigour in the vines. Lower vigour, in turn, reduced disease pressure, and made canopy management far simpler. Even the December rains had no negative impact on the quality of fruit, as the cool season allowed another two months of hangtime after the rain. 

There were, of course, some rains in early March, but by then our grapes were all safely in the cellar.

Moya Meaker’s five blocks of Pinot Noir are stretched across a single slope in the Elgin Valley. The slope has a slight convex shape to it; providing aspects that range from south to southeast. The densely-planted 3.12 hectares of vines were established in 2010; rooted in ancient Bokkeveld shale soils; rich in clay. 

For a long-time, wine pioneers in Elgin worried that red varieties would struggle to ripen in these cool, oft cloud-covered summer days, but through rigorous canopy management, our 667- and 777-clone Pinot Noir vines enjoy an exquisite combination of warm African sun, and the characteristic cool, rolling mist banks.

The grapes were harvested by hand between 11th February and 14th February. Ripeness levels were in a tight band between 23.5 and 24.0˚B. The fruit was de-stemmed and gravity-fed into tulip-shaped Italian concrete vessels. This process prevented the crushing of berries, so that whole berry fermentation was possible. To capture the elegance of the fruit, and avoid excessive extraction, the wine spent just 10 days on skins, with relatively short pump-overs taking place twice each day. Malolactic conversion occurred spontaneously in 300-litre Burgundian oak barrels (20% new oak). The wine was matured on its lees for 10 months.

This wine will be at its most expressive within five years of vintage but, with careful cellaring, will continue to evolve and improve for up to a decade.

TOTAL PRODUCTION: 11420 x 750ml and 270 x 1500ml
BOTTLING DATE: 12 January 2024
Origin: Elgin
Alc: 13.72%
pH: 3.48 
TA: 5.2 g/L
ES: 1.2 g/L