Newton Johnson, Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2023

Description

The Family Vineyards Pinot Noir is the archetype of our farm, having evolved from the vineyard sites with the most repute and refinement. Through the years every aspect of these vineyards has been detailed and fine-tuned so as to illustrate their authenticity and is the embodiment of our relationship with this farm. Each vineyard has developed signature attributes, providing us with further insight into the complexity, texture and subtle variation in each of these vineyards’ wines. They all lie mid –
slope in duplex soil with restrained vigour. Various expanses of iron rich clay allow retention of enough water and nutrients to safeguard the vines from any stress. Highest of all near the winery the clay is shallow and the gravel fragments larger, articulating into wines with darkened fruit and sturdy backbone. Following the slope below these vineyards, the soil is deeper and finer in texture, where the roots search for the clay. The wines here appear with more red fruit and opulence.

This wine represents the soil of the entire farm. The fine-textured Granite soil translates into a delicately structured wine, every bit as intense as Pinot Noir at its authentic best: Seductive, soft handed and persistent.

LOCATION & CLIMATE
These vineyards lie in the most favourable soil structures of porphyritic Granite on the mid slope, ranging from 220 to 290m in altitude, in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rain fall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August).

2023 GROWING SEASON & HARVESTING
The growing season was preceded by a fairly marginal Winter for vine dormancy. June saw some good rainfall throughout, followed by drier and mild periods in July that presumably caused some uneven budding in the Chardonnay. A colder August retained the dormancy in the vineyards to a timely budbreak in the 2 nd week of September. A drier, windy and quite cool Spring resulted in slow growth in the vine canopy until December when some heat and good rains brought a late flush of vegetal growth. A dry and warm January hastened veraison with conditions looking idyllic, until the first rains arrived in early February as the first grapes arrived. Intermittent rain continued throughout February and March with rain every other day, making it exceedingly difficult to pick grapes and b otrytis rot remained a constant threat. Had it not been for the favourable weather in January to bring the grapes and tannins to ripeness, the vintage could have been much worse.

These four Pinot Noir vineyards were harvested from 10th to 28th February.

WINEMAKING
The grapes are packed in to large -surface area crates to limit pressure on the bunches. The day’s harvest is cooled down overnight to 8ºC in the winery’s refrigerated cold room. The bunches are sorted on a conveyor, destemmed, and fall directly to the fermenter (with no crushing). No sulphur is used in the winemaking until after malolactic fermentation, allowing diverse micro-organisms from the grape itself to flourish unrestrained in the spontaneous fermentation. These vineyard parcels also contain a discr etionary percentage of whole bunches, which vary substantially between each site . Cold maceration ensues for 6 to 7 days at 8 to 10°C. All parcels are fermented by spontaneous yeasts, and only pigea ge (punching down) applied for extraction. The wine spends approximately 25 days on the skins before pressing. After pressing, it is racked and left to complete its malolactic fermentation and maturation in barrel on its lees.

MATURATION & BOTTLING
Matured for 11 months in barrique (228L) barrels produced in Burgundy and custom made for the various vineyards. Tighter grained oak is preferred for subtle flavour, with longer seasoning and slower, lower temperature toasting. New oak comprises 28%. The wine is racked to stainless steel tanks for another 5 months of élevage. No fining or filtration, and a sulphur adjustment before bottling.

Bottles Produced: 14,050

LOCATION & CLIMATE
These vineyards lie in the most favourable soil structures of porphyritic Granite on the mid slope, ranging from 220 to 290m in altitude, in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rain fall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August).

SOIL:Decomposed granite over iron-rich clay subsoil. Depth of the soil ranges from 70 to 130cm. Fine textured gravel to coarse fragments on the uppermost slopes and broken up claystone in places.
ASPECT: North-West and South-East facing. Slopes range from 12 to 16%.
TRELISSING: 7-wire Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) with movable wires
AGE OF VINES: 16 – 21 years
PRUNING: Double & Single Guyot, Cordon
VINES PER Ha: 2857 – 5000
AVERAGE YIELD: 2.9 to 5.4 tons/ha (20 – 37 hl/ha)

TASTING NOTE
Layered and dense fruit of cherry, raspberry, blackberry, and Turkish delight alludes to the varied vineyard parcels. The fresh, dewy lift and full sweet violets on the nose
conveys the clarity of Mrs. M vineyard in Granite soil. The broad, chewy texture engulfs the palate; framed by the thicker tannins of Windansea vineyard; leaching soft spices of cinnamon, clove and fennel in the finish.

AGEING POTENTIAL
2 – 15  years

A N A L Y S I S

Alcohol by volume: 13.4 %
Total Acidity: 5.5 g/l
pH: 3.51
Residual sugar: 2.3 g/l

Additional information

Pairs deliciously with all types of roast poultry - from chicken to pheasant.