Description
The 2020 Pinot Noir shows an abundance of depth and intensity with aromatics brimming with notes of savoury red cherry, red currant, sappy freshly cut hedgerow and earthy, bramble berry spice nuances. The oak is incredibly well integrated and plays very much a minor backing track support role. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied but dense, wonderfully intense yet simultaneously weightless, fleshy and powerful with delicious savoury red and black berry fruits, ripe sun raisined sloe berries, roasted nuts, hints of wild strawberry and a full, opulent mouth coating finish with finely poised tannins and delightfully balanced acids. Another very detailed, opulent, savoury expression of Pinot Noir from the Cape. Drink this on release and over the next 8 to 10 years. (94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Producer Information: Saurwein
Jessica Saurwein’s family name is steeped in the history of 17th-century winemaking, her forefathers made “sour” wine for the Emperor of Austria. It became her vocation to redeem her family’s reputation in wine and so after a gap year working locally and internationally in vineyards, she completed a BSc Oenology and Viticulture degree at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Opportunities then led her into the world of Sales and Marketing at first, while she worked in the cellar each year during harvest-time. She found her way back to making wine by starting her own production part-time in 2015. When she had a baby in October 2017 she resigned from her job to become a mother and full-time winemaker for her own brand.
Today she focusses on handcrafting her two favourite cultivars, Pinot noir and Riesling, and makes three wines under the Saurwein brand name, two Pinot noirs and one Riesling. She has a hands-off winemaking approach and creates wines of real substance and elegance. She is guided by the natural balance of the grapes for the three unique sites.
