Newton Johnson, Windansea Pinot Noir 2023

Description

Ever since we planted our first Pinot Noir vineyards on the Newton Johnson farm in 2003, we were mindful that it would take years for these vines to find their feet and express any notion of terroir, if any. With each season, as the vines have evolved, our perceptions and expectations of them have evolved with them. Some have reached their ceiling, while others have excelled beyond. The authenticity and consistency to which the Seadragon and Windansea vineyards have defined themselves, has led us to regard them as our top growth vineyards. Their maturity, complexity and singular expression are ably demonstrated in each of these cuvées.

WINDANSEA is a large 2.5ha vineyard planted on the highest part of the slope before encountering shallow bedrock and mountainside behind the winery. The shallow, dense clay below the surface is a major feature of the soil and ascribes for the more muscular structure and presence. With majestic views to the sea, the vineyard is also the most exposed to wind and is constantly suppressed in the vigour of its growth. Thicker skins on the berries produce deeper and darker tones. The succulent tang of red and black fruit is persistent in the fringes, but it is the firmer body and backbone that define the wine of the vineyard. The roots find their way early into the heavy clay and even as young vines they deliver these characteristics. The use of whole bunches and stems are especially useful here in helping to accentuate the acidity and spiciness and to align the tannin structure .

TASTING NOTE
A lavish wine with dense fruit, soft spice and violets in cooler years. The lush black and red fruits merge to a savoury core, strewn with mineral characters and freshly turned earth . The firm framework and granular tannins are rooted in the clay soil, lengthened by fine, sinewy tannins in the finish.

AGEING POTENTIAL
2 – 15  years

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 n d 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 botrytis 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.

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 ferm enter (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. This parcel also contains a discretionary percentage (varying from 30-40%) of whole bunches. Cold maceration ensues for 6 to 7 days at 8 to 10°C. All parcels are fermented by spontaneous yeasts , and only pigeage (punching down) applied for extraction. The wine spends approximately 2 5 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 this vineyard. Tighter grained oak is preferred for subtle flavour, with longer seasoning and slower, lower temperature toasting. New oak comprises 27%. The wine is racked to larger, older puncheon (500L) barrels for another 5 months of élevage. No fining or filtration, and a sulphur adjustment before bottling.

Bottles Produced: 2,483

LOCATION & CLIMATE
This vineyard lies uppermost on the slope at an altitude of 290m, in the porphyritic Granite soils of 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 rainfall is 850mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August).

SOIL: A duplex soil with topsoil to about 35cm deep that has coarse fragments and only 5% clay. The subsoil consists of material in different stages of weathering. 30% fine gravel and 20% coarse gravel
with varying clay percentages followed by dense clay at about 70cm deep. The root depth is on average 80cm.
ASPECT: North facing. Slope of 15%
TRELISSING: 7-wire Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) with movable wires
AGE OF VINES: 19 years
PRUNING: Double Guyot
VINES PER Ha: 3200
AVERAGE YIELD: 2.9 tons/ha (20 hl/ha)

A N A L Y S I S

Alcohol by volume: 12.9 %
Total Acidity: 5.2 g/l
pH: 3.67
Residual sugar: 2.1 g/l

Additional information

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