2018, 2019: two different guises
It is often referred to as South Africa's premier Pinot Noir, and it goes for a song in comparison to some of its peers from elsewhere. How do Hamilton Russell do it? The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley is known as the source of South Africa's finest Pinot, and Hamilton Russell enjoy a particularly propitious position here; at the cusp of the ridge at the end of the valley, they look down on the Cape below. It's a bracing spot, where they get the full force of the Cape Doctor wind and the cold Atlantic airs. This may be Africa, but there are times here when the vines really shiver; it shows in the tense, vibrant freshness of the wines. This is intense, elegant, expressive Pinot Noir.
2018 was a fine, classically-styled vintage here, warm but not too hot, with a long growing season. The 2018 Pinot Noir is beautiful, full of crunchy cherry fruit, raspberry and blood orange. It is a structured wine, pure and focused, with a spine of acidity, and a fresh, minty finish. The comparison is inevitable, but it's apt; they make a very Burgundian style of wine.
2019 was a different affair. Things were fine, until high winds whipped up a bushfire heading straight for the estate. Most of the vineyards escaped a scorching, but smoke taint got into the grapes. So Anthony Hamilton Russell decided there must be no 2019 Hamilton Russell Pinot from their own vineyards. Instead, he did something else. Drawing on years of good relationships, he purchased the best fruit he could find from his neighbours up and down Hemel-en-Aarde, and released a 2019 Pinot under the Walker Bay appellation. It's a glorious wine, and very distinct in style. The fruit-infused tobacco aromas made me think of shisha bars on the Edgeware Road. Less severely structured, more immediate, it has an expansive, complex character, full of spice and with as much dark as red fruit. With fruit from all three of the Hemel-en-Aarde appellations, it's a wine that reflects the full personality of its region. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; 2018 wines available now, 2019 wines available imminently
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