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00:00 – INTRO
00:20 – WHERE WERE THE GRAPES GROWN?
00:53 – DECODING DIURNAL RANGE
02:37 – WHAT THE TORTOISE AND THE HAIRE TEACH US ABOUT VITICULTURE
04:35 – WHAT IS THE WINE LIKE IN THE GLASS?=====================

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Pinot Noir in South Africa is come along in leaps and bounds in the last ten years, to the point where our best (Crystallum, Storm, Bouchard Finlayson, Newton Johnson) produce bottles that compare with some of the best in the world. And while almost all of our best examples are sourced from either Walker Bay or Elgin, there are a handful of fascinating examples from other sites that feature some increased elevation, impressive diurnal range, prominent oceanic influence…or all three!

In this video we explore the Snow Mountain Pinot Noir 2021, make by winemaker James McKenzie and se the fable of the tortoise and the hare to unpack some ideas around the connection between diurnal range and grape ripeness.

If you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down in your own time. But until then, here are my tasting notes and some technical specs to keep you up to speed:

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👃🏼 The vanguard carries a slightly muddled almost shiraz-like nose of black cherry, star anise, game, cedar wood, mushroom, white pepper.

👄 The palate is lighter than the nose would have suggested, but there is medium intensity plum fruit, alongside some high intensity sour cherry and citrus acidity. Despite the lighter colour, there is enough tannic grip on the finish to make sure you’re still paying attention.

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🔬 100% Pinot Noir. The wine has its origin listed as “Western Cape”, but the fruit was sourced from a range of vineyards in the Winterhoek region on the north end of the Tulbagh valley. The vines are fairly low yielding, getting less than 5 tonnes per hectare, only 1400 bottles were made.

Grapes were cold soaked prior to fermentation, and then fermented in Stainless Steel tank. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was then matured in older French Oak for 9 months.

13.5 % Alc | Total acid 6.26g | Residual Sugar 4.96g