Taste Testing Newton Johnson Family Vineyards' South African Hemel en Aarde Wines: Family Vineyards Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, Seadragon Pinot Noir, Syrah & More

Wine Reviews: Newton Johnson Family Vineyards' Southend Chardonnay, Family Vineyards Chardonnay, Family Vineyards Pinot Noir, Seadragon Pinot Noir & Falkirk Syrah

Only three decades in, and already South Africa's Hemel-en-Aarde-residing Newton Johnson Family Vineyards has already established itself as an institution of the country's winemaking, and more particularly as a touchstone for South Africa's interpretations of the Old World's lingua franca, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This has earned the winery every top honour, from Platter's Five Stars to being amongst notable category critic Tim Atkins' list of South African First Growths. It's an impressive run - perhaps sprint would be more accurate, given that all this was achieved in such relative speed - that has led the Newton Johnson family to enviable heights, so much so that any discussion of New World references is incomplete without their name tossed in the hat. Today led by second-generation brothers Bevan and Gordon Newton Johnson, joined by Nadia, their winemaker, the family has covered much ground but is actively pushing forth to see what else can be uncovered in South Africa's ancient terroirs, and with every step of the way, writing South Africa's up and coming wine story.

Felicity (nee Newton) and Dave Johnson.

Now this all started with Dave Johnson. Johnson was born to a family in Yorkshire, England, who would after the second World War immigrate to Cape Town, South Africa, on the back of a coin toss (the flipside of the coin would have seen the family head to Canada instead), at least that's how the Johnson family lore goes. Johnson would thus grow up to become incredibly passionate about wines, beginning with his appointment as the treasurer, and later chairman, of the Durban Wine Society in the late 1970's in South Africa. This ultimately led to a key role in Distell, the country's largest wine company, where he would eventually take the opportunity to be a part of the first cohort of Cape Wine Masters, authoring his famed thesis on Pinot Noir. As South Africa's wine landscape had begun to quickly accelerate in the decades leading up to the millennium, pacing its historic re-entry into the global wine market as it finally achieved full democratic independence in 1994, Johnson would take on every avenue to be deeply involved in the wine trade. In those quick decades, Johnson would pen the first academic paper on Pinot Noir, casting proper spotlight on an international variety as opposed to then more popular local varieties such as Chenin Blanc and Cinsaut, as well as establishing exports of South African wines to key international markets such as the UK with his company Cape Bay and First Cape, a successful partnership with UK drinks company Brand Phoenix. Johnson is thus often credited with bringing greater international attention to South African winemaking.

Yet, at heart Johnson really wanted to make his own Pinot Noir. 

The Newton Johnson Family's vineyards.

As the story goes, Johnson would regularly bring Bevan and Gordon, when they were still kids, up to Walker Bay to visit South African winemaking legend Peter Finlayson, first at the pioneering Hamilton Russell vineyards and then later at Finlayson's own Bouchard Finlayson winery, just so that he could enjoy his glass (or glasses) of Pinot Noir. And so Johnson would eventually conclude that Hemel-en-Aarde, or Heaven and Earth in Afrikaans, was the place to be, with its cool, maritime climate and well drained granite soils. Newton Johnson would thus be officially established in 1995 - the name derived by combining the family names of both Dave's and his wife Felicity's - with the winery set in a small 7 hectare parcel in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde area near Hermanus, flanked by the Babylonstoring Mountains on one side and just a stone's throw from the shoreline on the other, an hour and a half's drive from Cape Town. Yet as the global prestige of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grew, Johnson's plan to purchase fruit to be vinified quickly became untenable as local growers would not sell, preferring to keep it for themselves. Johnson would only manage to produce a small handful of vintages, starting from the inaugural 1997 vintage, with bought-in fruit, before concluding that the family would simply have to start growing their own fruit.

Shaped almost like a basin, Hemel-en-Aarde is formed of ancient 400 million year old bedrock composed of marine sediments, and is divided into three distinct segments. Where the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge sits on both ends, with the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde in the middle, the soils here are characterised by variations in their compositions of shale, sandstone and granite, with heavier clay content on the two ends. Residing in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde, Newton Johnson's estate sits on rare granite soils backed by clay and alluvial terraces, where the lighter clay content yields a more delicate wine, whilst the granite - the result of a shared granitic fault line that once connected it with the Swartland - allows the wines to tend towards an unusual freshness. The result is a great showing of elegance where it comes to Johnson's favourite Pinot Noirs. Yet, getting the terrain right is just half the picture. Despite South Africa's long history of winemaking as a result of its strategic geographical position as a global port of call, the country had by the mid till late 1900's still not yet caught up to date with international winemaking quality benchmarks, especially with international varieties, in large part due to the lack of access to quality vine material. "One of the frustrations for pinot noir producers in this country is that we're in the minority. Nurseries are much better equipped to respond to the demands of Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz producers. We'd send in orders but there was no incentive to offer quality clones. They knew we'd have to take what was available," says Bevan, who today manages the family winery's marketing and commercial activities. After years of effort, Newton Johnson was able to finally acquire better vine material in the form of Dijon clones 115, 113 and Burgundy's favourite 777. 

Bevan, Nadia and Gordon, representing the second-generation of Newton Johnson.

As Johnson's sons, Bevan and Gordon, had by then already graduated from college (with Economics degrees, and a passion for surfing!) and had just now completed their winemaking internships in Stellenbosch and in their own valley, Johnson would decide to go all in and in 1999 would purchase a neglected 40 hectare protea farm, with their first vines laid down by 2003. What started as 12 hectares would eventually grow to a more substantial 144 hectares over the next decades, split between a 40 hectare main farm and a 104 hectare second estate, with nevertheless only 18 hectares of which planted with vines (14 hectares on the main farm and 4 hectares on the second estate, the latter being a more mountainous farmland) given the farm's mountainous terrains. Much of the vines are of course Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with then notably several other Rhone and Mediterranean varietals such as Syrah also planted - the family lays claim to being the first in South Africa to produce the Galician white Albarino varietal. Right from the outset, the Johnson family were particular about soil health and had thus selected plots that remained completely untouched by chemicals, and would also prioritise biodiversity as a core feature for the vineyards. This was pivotal to the ongoing South African quality revolution as the country has had a history of industrially planting great quantities of virus afflicted vineyards which led to a vicious cycle of having to resort to a heavy handed use of chemicals and a frequent uprooting and replanting schedule which in turn further debilitated the soil and its vines and dampened the quality of wines made. As such, the Johnson's were determined to go to great lengths to ensure a pristine vineyard that was now planted with superior vine material, now just entering their old vine era. 

Besides wine, the Newton Johnson family has a deep love for the sea, represented in their emblem of twin sea dragons.

By 2008, the wines from these newly planted vineyards would make their debut to great acclaim. The family hasn't looked back since, and its winery is today safely in the hands of second-generation Bevan, Gordon and Nadia, who continue to steer the family estate forward, with their parents now taking a backseat in their retirement. It's worth pointing out that even as second-generation growers, the brothers were really right there from the very start when the family's winery was being established, not withstanding having grown up around the likes of South African winemaking luminaries from Jan Boland to Giles Webb (of Kanonkop Estate and Thelema Mountain Vineyards fame respectively). This has therefore put them at the forefront of Pinot Noir making in the valley with about as much experience as is possible, with Bevan stating that even up till the mid-2010's, "Nobody has more than 30 years experience growing Pinot in South Africa. We have so much to learn”. And so whilst Bevan takes care of the marketing and commercial activities of the winery, Gordon and Nadia, who are married and had met during the 2004 harvest in Hemel-en-Aarde, Nadia herself a 6th generation grower from a winemaking family residing in Robertson and had studied a degree in oenology at Stellenbosch University, take care of the viticulture and winemaking. Nevertheless, with still just under twenty vintages on their estate itself, the Newton Johnson's have their work cut out for them - they have begun moving towards showcasing the terroir more precisely with their single vineyard Pinot Noirs, are increasingly moving towards taking a lighter hand with the winemaking, and are still constantly trying to experiment and see what else could work here.

The Newton Johnson estate.

Getting into the vineyards, it's easiest to understand the land by dividing the sites into the 15 hectares that are north facing and the 3.5 hectares that are south facing, all of which seated some 150-280 meters above sea level. It is at the latter (the south) that is exclusively planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and is the source of the estate's exciting single vineyard expressions (whose blocks sit on the highest vineyards that also have the largest concentration of granite soils), with the smaller site facing directly towards the South Atlantic Ocean, placing it under the fresh cover of the cool and moist seabreeze. Broadly, the land here can be characterised as being something of a duplex where the topsoil is predominantly granite and quartz or sandstone, with then clay as the bedrock, which is what provides great drainage and the ability for the wines to show great mineral complexity, an aromatic perfume and excellent structure. Yet ultimately it is really a confluence of factors that work in the Newton Johnsons' favour, with the rain abundant during both winter and spring, which has also meant little need (or none altogether) for irrigation, contributing to the wines' purity and terroir expression, with furthermore the estate sitting on some of the highest coverage of rare granite patches as compared to its neighbours, which is responsible for the wines' outstanding perfume and structure. 

Now even if Pinot Noir was the very basis of Newton Johnson's founding for first-generation Dave Johnson, the second-generation has certainly developed that passion in their own shape, with Gordon and Nadia particularly interested in showcasing terroir-driven Pinot Noirs, and hence the motion towards single vineyard expressions. For them, Pinot Noir is the ultimate interpretation of terroir, with the ability to demonstrate the distinctiveness of each site, where they've even observed that here, terroir beats clonal choice. "We don't see a lot of correlation between the clones and the sites,... the soils definitely speak louder than the clones for us," said Gordon, with Nadia also stating that "777 from the winery is a completely different wine from 777 from Mrs M vineyard,... they are 200 metres apart, so climate will be the same, and we handle them differently". The result of their tireless work has seen to it that whilst the likes of Tim Hamilton Russell and Peter Finlayson may lay claim to being the first to bring to light the virtues of Hemel-en-Aarde's Pinot Noir making potential, it is more definitely Newton Johnson that has captured the world's attention. This attention grab may be even more keen into the next decades as more single vineyards emerge, with their existing single vineyards fully embracing old vine status, making them some of the first of their kind in South Africa.

Suspended tanks allows for wines to be moved gently via gravity.

And so moving along the slope, the family uses a series of vine training systems from Cordon's to Guyot, Echalas and Goblet, that is adjusted to the degree of the slope and the varietal planted. Where the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines at the top of the slope are trellised, as we move towards the bottom, which sees more boulders, the Rhone variety vines there are therefore planted to high density using an echelas system. Finally, the vineyards closest to the cellars are where the majority of the Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre are planted, with then the rest of the north-facing vineyards planted with the remaining Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Yet, perhaps their most stark achievement till date would likely be their introduction of the Galician Albarino to South Africa, which the family had laboured for years to make happen, having started the process in 2008 with just 10 cuttings sourced from UC Davis, to now over 800 vines planted and a debut vintage in 2014 - all of which said to have been kickstarted by Dave Johnson's observation of the climate similarities between the Cape and the Galician seafront, and a desire for a wine that could pair well with his seafood! The family remains on the look out for new varietals that might work in their slice of Heaven and Earth, even as they remain realistically constrained by their ability to source high quality vine material. Beyond their estate, the family continues to source fruit from growers around the valley and all the way up to Elgin and Villierdorp, with their own estate fruit only accounting for about 30% of their total winemaking needs.

Gordon and Nadia.

Taking a step into the cellars, the family's biggest foray has been the designing and enacting of their 200-ton gravity-fed winery that was specially built to more gently handle their delicate wines. Over the years, the family has worked to increasingly take a lighter hand to their winemaking, with their fruit handpicked and sorted, and all fermentations done spontaneously with native yeasts since 2007, carried out in a combination of stainless steel and oak, with 15-30% whole bunch depending on the cuvee. The family also refrains from using sulphur in their winemaking until after malolactic fermentation, with also no additions of enzymes, nor the use of fining or filtering. Their combined 40 vintages of experiences have thus far led them to trust that with each season, their winemaking can take an ever more minimalist touch, with their goal being for the inherent climate, soils and well selected varietals to do more of the talking. Once vinified, their wines are then primarily aged in neutral French barriques with only just a small portion of new wood used. Bevan emphasises that as a still small family winery, enhancements to the winery are incremental and also often times fortuitous. Their use of French oak stems from their chance encounter with French coopers Hassin and Tremeaux who had tasted the Newton Johnson's wines are liked it enough to offer their services. As the story goes, the Frenchman had told Bevan to "send me your wine to taste and I'll tell you if you can buy my barrels," and the rest is history. Today the coopers fly out to South Africa every few years to taste the wines and refine their assessments as to the profile of the oak barrels to be made.

Oh, and on top of all of that, the family also has on their estate a world class restaurant where visitors can enjoy some of South Africa's best Pinot Noirs paired with great food!

And so with all that said, we finally come to the point at which there is little more to do than to taste Newton Johnson's wine! Let's go!

Sommelier Vanessa Tan and Bevan Newton Johnson.

PS. Stellez Vine is the importer in Singapore behind Newton Johnson's wines, and so if you're looking for some of South Africa's most impressive Pinot Noirs, they're your go to folks. They had also brought Bevan Newton Johnson himself down to Singapore - which he's visited on numerous occasions - for a very instructive masterclass at Praelum Wine Bistro, where we got to taste through a selection of the wines. Perhaps more excitingly, just earlier this year, Singapore's 2025 National Sommelier Competition (SNSC) winner (and also first female champion!), Sommelier Vanessa Tan, had also become the first Singaporean to complete a full harvest over at Newton Johnson Family Vineyards!

Wine Review: Newton Johnson Southend Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay.

Southend refers to the vineyards overshadowed by the Babylonstoring Mountains in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley that is owned and farmed by Newton Johnson's neighbours, the Pringle family. Although just across the river from Newton Johnson's estate, the vineyards at Southend are notably cooler and thus enjoy slower ripening that should give good clarity and acidity. The fruit is first hand-picked into small, shallow crates that prevents premature crushing, after which it is cooled down overnight and then hand sorted, before then being fed whole bunch and directly into the press using gravity. Only about 40% of the juices yielded is used, which is then racked into barrel for spontaneous fermentation with no sulphur used until bottling. It is then vinified in large format casks, with a lengthy and slow fermentation taking place into winter and only finishing in spring. Maturation is 11 months long in large Burgundy barrels (11% new oak) with about 1/3 in stainless steel. The wine is then blended and kept in stainless steel for 5 more months before being bottled and released.

This is the 2023 vintage. 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: It opens candied, creamy and aromatic, with a refined and exotic fruitiness of vine peaches, quince and gooseberries topped with lime leaves, laid over a base of vanilla cream. It's almost lightly lactic, giving peach yogurt rings, with then an oriental waxiness of agarwood and elderflowers.

Taste: Medium-bodied, plush and lush body with great richness, it's juicy with ripe peaches and quinces, tossed in with lime leaves still, creamy and candied, with here a touch of peach fuzz savouriness. Really firm and concentrated, creamy, with a gentle acidity and with a freshness to the body, it's again enveloped by that oriental waxiness of agarwood and elderflowers.

Finish: More musky here with honeyed gooseberries, fresh and dried, with a streaky lactic tang of peach yogurt ring. It's lush and rich through the finish, candied still, with vine peaches, topped with cream and honey hanging on.

My Thoughts

A really forward and rather bold Chardonnay that carries with it this exotic refinement, filled with vine peaches, gooseberries, lime leaves and an almost agarwood waxiness, deliciously candied and topped over a serving of cream. It's rich and juicy, yet not over the top, which therefore ends up offering a rounded and bodied, really creamy Chardonnay that's easy to get into and a definite crowdpleaser. Bonus points for the fact that even with its generosity, it still manages to keep that really polished acidity! This easily goes pound to pound with creamy pastas or seafood in cream sauce.

Wine Review: Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay.

This comes from three vineyard sites that are part of Newton Johnson's own estate, each with a different degree of exposure to the sun, which of course materialises to varying ripeness and acidity. It therefore combines the south-facing Chardonnay's that carry more acidity, with the north-facing Chardonnay's that are richer. These are largely all planted on well drained gravel soils with deposits of clay all the way down, which offers a combination of structure and also concentration. During harvest the fruit is handpicked and follows the same process of being packed into small, shallow crates to avoid premature crushing, after which it is left to cool overnight, before being hand sorted and gravity fed whole bunched directly for pressing. Only 40% of the juice yielded is used, directly fed into barrels for spontaneous fermentation, with no addition of sulphur until bottling. It's matured for 11 months in Burgundy barrels (22% new oak), their formats differ from vineyard to vineyard, depending on the vine age and expressiveness of the site. It's then left for 5 more months on stainless steel before bottling.

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Incredibly perfumed, delicately candied, with vine peaches and lime leaves. It's decidedly more lifted and elegant with a more prominent line of granite minerality. Some creaminess here, though leaner and more chiselled, with more precision and definition. Bouquets of violets and irises, with also a slight nutty savouriness, and a whiff of curry leaves. It leans into freshness and clarity.

Taste: Medium-bodied, it's rich and candied, really concentrated, yet impeccably high definition and almost crystalline. Vine peaches, maltose candy, rounded out by a peach fuzz savouriness. It's taut as a whole yet creamy at its core, with a brighter acidity. Really precise and svelte.

Finish: This develops on the fruits with a spectrum of vine peaches, candied peaches, to peach yogurt rings. Lime leaves too. Clean, fresh finish, with some lingering vine peach savouriness.

My Thoughts

Where Southend was bold and rich, the Newton Johnson Family Vineyards' own Chardonnay was a step up in its elegance and classiness! This was decidedly more chiselled, precise and taut, going leaner but also more concentrated, with a serious lift of freshness and clarity. It's more singular and svelte, that just exudes polish and style. It keeps the same core notes of vine peaches with a candied quality and an edge of savouriness, just a slight lactic tang, with here a showing of bouquets of exotic florals too, yet this time it's far more refined and crystalline. This would pair perfectly with sashimi, oysters, soft cheeses or chicken.

Wine Review: Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir.

Now we get on to the heart and soul of the Newton Johnson family - their Pinot Noirs!  The Pinot Noir here comes from the family's own estate that lies on duplex soils of granite and clay, with fruit coming from various sites along the slope of the valley, both north and south facing, at the top presenting darker fruit and a more sturdy backbone to the lower ends of the slope where the wines show more opulence. During harvest, special care is taken to limit pressure on the fruit, with the fruit cooled down overnight before being sorted and de-stemmed, and then fed by gravity directly into the fermenter without crushing. No sulphur is used until after malolactic fermentation, with fermentation kept spontaneous with native yeasts. Depending on the vineyard site, a varying percentage of whole bunches are kept, with then cold maceration to go on for 6-7 days at low temperature. The wine is left in contact with its skins for 25 days before pressing, with punching down used for extraction. After pressing, the wines are then racked and left to complete malolactic fermentation and an 11 months maturation in Burgundy barrels (29% new oak) on the lees. The wine is then further left to age for another 5 months in stainless steel tanks before being bottled with no fining or filtration.

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Ruby

Aroma: Darker toned, sensual and also really aromatic. It's teeming with floral bouquets of rose petals, irises and violets, cusped by a perfumed powderiness and an undercurrent of mineral springs. It's then coloured in by dark strawberries, plums, dark cherries and blackberries, with then some earthiness of leather, and also wafts of eucalyptus.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, plush, rich and creamy, with well saturated dark cherries, strawberries, raspberries and plums topped over cream. It carries through that darker toned sensuality yet here lifted and fresh with that lively acidity. It's garnished by quite a range of tertiary tones, from fragrant rose petals, to green stems and a dark leafiness, all the way to an earthiness of tobacco, leather and a crack of black pepper. It shows a structured body with finely grained tannins.

Finish: More minerality of spring water gliding through the finish, with the same red fruits of dark cherries, strawberries and raspberries, just a touch of cream, with still that dark leafiness and leather. Clean and lightly dry finish, alittle powdery here, with then rose petals, leather, dark cherries and more creaminess lingering on.

My Thoughts

This feels almost Burgundian, leaning in to dried florals, cooler, concentrated fruit, and that minerality, yet at the same time, this stands out for being more florals and fruit forward, with then everything else - the earthiness and savouriness - playing more of a supporting act. It's incredibly well composed, shows great structure, really layered, and also with such freshness to its acidity that gives it a real lift. It's linear and also broad, with quite the coolness and clarity. Yet perhaps most importantly, this strikes as being remarkably approachable and easy to get into with that supple richness that allows the wine to hold its own and convey this sense of presence. A really sturdy Pinot Noir that can carry itself with such versatility in any situation. Would pair great with rotisserie chicken or a rack of lamb.

Wine Review: Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Seadragon Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir.

Seadragon (or as some might know them as seahorses) is the name of Newton Johnson's oldest Pinot Noir vineyard, and was in fact the sole component of the family's debut 2008 vintage using their own estate fruit. This is said to be the archetype for Newton Johnson's Pinot Noir's and comes from a single parcel that sits on granite soils with clay below, facing south. Following the same process as with its Family Vineyards Pinot Noir's, the fruit is packed and cooled down before being sorted and destemmed, fed directly by gravity into the fermenter without crushing. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts, with no sulphur used during the winemaking. Depending on the vintage, 20-30% of the fruit is vinified whole bunches, with cold maceration taking place for 6-7 days and only punch downs used for extraction. The wine then sits on its skins for 25 days before pressing, and once pressed, is racked and left to complete malolactic fermentation and maturation in Burgundy barrels (33% new oak) on the lees for 11 months, after which it is racked into old wood for another 5 more months before bottling, with no fining or filtration.

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: Deeply aromatic, yet decidedly more precise and detailed, with a clear line of minerality of wet stone and clay that threads through bounties of fruits of dark cherries, red currants, blackberries and blueberries. There's a little bit of stems here, as well as black pepper, weaving between the florals of rose petals and irises. More understated gravel stones, with also a cusp of leather and tobacco. Alittle powdery perfume as well.

Taste: Medium-bodied, rich and creamy, really plush yet once again really elegant and precise, with that bramble of blackberries, dark cherries and blueberries. It's textural with also fine grain tannins and also this clean and fresh acidity. With time, more on strawberries and raspberries, alongside that minerality of spring water. There's a darker tone that surfaces, of plums and prunes, black pepper, eucalyptus and leather, that begins to show itself.

Finish: Burst of blueberries galore! Violets too, it's alittle more candied here, of fruit pastilles over vanilla cream, and also leather. Plush finish, with dark leafy blueberries hanging on.

My Thoughts

This is showing so much finesse, refinement and polish! Right from the get go it was already so precise and detailed, which made its structural elegance so apparent, and yet at the same time there's so much concentration and chiselled tautness here, really showing that sculpted physique. All of that florals, fruits and earthiness is strung together by this linear minerality that threads through them, giving it such an integration and direction. And on that note, the minerality here is so well defined too, whilst the acidity comes through effortlessly fresh and lifted, with the tannins fine and textural - this wine is really more about elegance of execution, which brings it above and beyond those hallmark Newton Johnson Pinot Noir flavour characteristics, and that's where this really shines. Oh and that final burst of blueberries certainly sealed the deal as well. Feels like this would work great with prosciutto and soft cheeses, or perhaps something more adventurous like prawns in coconut gravy.

Wine Review: Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Falkirk Syrah

100% Syrah.

Named after the Scottish town of Falkirk where the Newton family hailed from, this is therefore also the name of a 1.5 hectare vineyard site that lies on the lowest slope of the Newton Johnson estate, where the soils are characterised by granitic stone and rock deposits and is only planted with Rhone varieties, that is Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. Upon handpicking, the fruit is left to cool down overnight, before being sorted and destemmed, directly gravity fed into the fermenter. No sulphur in the winemaking until after malolactic fermentation, with fermentation occuring spontaneously with native yeasts. The vinification makes use of 50% whole bunches, with cold maceration running for 5-7 days, and punch downs used for extraction. The wines sit on the skins for 25 days before pressing, and upon pressing the wine is racked and left to complete malolactic fermentation and maturation with 12 months spent in Burgundy barrels, before it is given another 6 months in a large foudre, and thereafter it's bottled.

This is the 2022 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: Deeply aromatic, more earthy here with immediate notes of black pepper and leather, which envelopes a core of perfumed florals of rose petals, violets and irises topped over dark fruits of plums, prunes, dark cherries and blueberries. Also tones of cream, giving it a plush and elegant sensuality. There's a minerality that underscores the aromas, of gravelly stone, yet at the same time a powdery chalkiness.

Taste: Medium-bodied, silky and taut, yet at the same time rich and creamy within, it's again earthy, although here more red fruited, with leather and black pepper, accompanied by dark cherries and strawberries, with again tones of cream. It's really rich, pointing towards a greater ripeness, yet stays away from overt heaviness. The tannins have some grip and grain. Deeper down, the fruits get darker but also more sensual, of blackberries and blueberries, with a slightly herbal touch of eucalyptus. 

Finish: Some vanilla here, cream too, giving bramble pies topped with all manners of strawberries, dark cherries and blackberry jams and preserves. It's rich yet muscular with that leathery bit. It's also showing more spice, of cinnamon and tobacco, also fragrant rose petals. Lightly dry finish, with a perfumed powderiness that dusts over blackberry and raspberries. Just a subtle canvas of old wood too.

My Thoughts

A more fruit forward and also more restrained Syrah, here the fruits clearly lead the way, enveloped with the earthiness and spices, with again the minerality coming through nicely. It's certainly richer and yet the acidity suffices to keep it away from overt heaviness, and so it lands as conveying a perfumed and fruity sensuality, especially with those little swaths of cream that pads the base. It's really interesting to see how the Syrah here seems to avoid that meatiness and savouriness, and yet keeps all of those beautiful rich fruit, which serves to make it that much more beguiling and approachable. This makes a good pairing for tomato pastas, bolognese or a marinara, of if you're feeling really decadent then this would work well with beef bourguignon, but also hard cheeses and dried fruits work just as perfectly.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot