Elgin Vintners Ponthuis Pinot Noir

W.O. Elgin

100% Pinot Noir

About us Established in 2003, Elgin Vintners, situated in the cool-climate Elgin Valley, have 45 hectares of vineyards. Our main cultivars are Pinot Noir Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. We also have Merlot and Syrah. We believe in sustainability on all fronts, in our business, vineyards, and our people. Our wines continually receive numerous high-profile globallyrenowned accolades and outstanding reviews from reputable wine critics. Elgin Vintners wines show exceptional poise, finesse, and elegance.

Terroir Elgin is the coolest wine region in South Africa. The benefit of cooler climates is that the grape cluster stays connected to its roots for longer, developing more characteristics and achieving physiological ripeness more gradually with lower sugar levels and consequently lower alcohols. The resultant wines leave one with an impression of delicacy, but also power and insistence over warmer-climate examples, which show bolder but less-persistent flavours. The vineyards have an altitude of 305 m, which makes this the 4th highest elevation in South Africa, considering that we are also next to the cold Atlantic ocean this has a profound influence on day/night temperatures, prevailing south-easterly winds. The South-Easter can bring a cooling respite to the vineyards of Elgin it can also bring extensive cloud cover that gets restricted by the mountains and extends back over the region, meaning that not only is sunlight blocked out but temperatures are also reduced and the ripening of grapes is slowed. In extreme cases, about four to five times a year, the wind is strong enough and the clouds thick enough to enable precipitation known locally as a Black South-Easter, dumping quite large amounts of rain often throughout the day. On top of this, on calmer warmer days, cool coastal breezes get sucked in from the sea as the warmed land air begins to rise which reduces the temperature very quickly in the afternoon and into the night. This helps maintain the acid levels in the grapes, leading to an extended ripening period on the vine with natural balance and complex and powerful flavours.

Viticulture Tucking in of the growing shoots between the wires and done frequently during the growing season. Also, suckering is done twice during the growing season, early November and January. After veraison, all the green small bunches are removed. Approximately, four weeks before harvesting the leaves are removed in the bunch zones so that full phenolic ripeness can be achieved.

Vinification Grapes upon receiving were destemmed but not crushed. 30% were left as whole bunches. The wooden open-top fermenters were filled. Natural fermentation followed, so no inoculation with commercial yeast. In the first half of fermentation, pump-overs were done twice daily. Thereafter only once per day. This ensured that no over-extraction of tannins and phenolics could happen. Fermentation took 18 days to complete. Seven days post-fermentation skin maceration followed. Thereafter the fully fermented wine was pressed, to separate from the skins and filled into French oak barrels. The sizes of the barrels were a selection of 500L, 300L, and 225L of which 20% are new oak. Malolactic fermentation was completed in the barrel. Ten months maturation in barrel prior to bottling.

Recommendation The natural cherry and game characters of Pinot Noir pair wonderfully with the sweet and smoky flavours of barbecue. In particular, barbecued pork and skewers with bacon wrap will be highlighted by the corresponding flavours in Pinot Noir. You would also be surprised how well barbecued chicken goes with a glass of Pinot Noir. And to top it all, chocolatecovered strawberries will satisfy the taste buds.

Alcohol: 13.50 % Residual Sugar: 3.4 Total Acid: 4.40 pH: 3.76