Product Description:

This site is the original source for Stompie's Pinot Noir. Planted in 2000, and named after the nearby river, it has 3,500 vines per hectare with North-South rows on a southwest facing slope, allowing for more even ripening. Since 2013 there has not been a single spray on the vineyard with the plan of having it certified in 2018. The soils are mostly “Koue Bokkeveld” shale with table mountain sandstone and clay as building blocks at an altitude of 1,000 feet.

The grapes were hand harvested into small picking bins with pH in mind on the harvest date. No oxidation is allowed before ferment, 70% is made 100% carbonic, so no crushing of the grapes. The rest of grapes are fermented 100% whole bunch, crushed, with one punch down daily. The wine ferments warm at 85°F for about 10 days and then spends another 22 days “post ferment” on the skins for tannin integration. A gentle pressing to barrel and a nice resting period of 11 months on the gross lees in old French oak, after which the wine was blended and bottled in April 2015, unfined and unfiltered.

Pale cranberry color. Sour cherries, sweet spices and tarragon aromas are present leading to a palate of cranberry, pomegranate and red cherries tempered by precise acidity and a finely grained, textured mouthfeel. The finish is long, yet angular, with short, firm tannins holding everything in place.

200 cases produced. - Importer