THE FLEDGE & CO ELGIN PINOT NOIR 2017
| Grape: | Pinot Noir |
| Winery: | The Fledge & Co |
| Origin: | Elgin, South Africa |
| ABV%: | 13.8% |
| Colour: | Ruby red |
| Aromas: | Red berries and earthy notes |
| Flavours: | Raspberry, cranberry, cherries with earthy undertones. Good level of acidity and structure, along with fine tannins. |
Winemaker's Comments:
Philosophy – The simple moniker of Pinot Noir belies the complexities of this bottling: as this wine is the culmination of the years’ work, an expression of the vintage via a most fickle variety & represents our best five barrels of cool climate climats of Pinot.
Vineyard – Trellised moderate yield sites of clone 777 rooted in decomposed Table Mountain sandstone along the Palmiet River & terraced vines on decomposed Bokkeveld shale on red clay with iron stone ‘n quartz combines with clone 115 wedged into ancient Bokkeveld shale over red clay along the Highland Road ridge. All fruit was hand harvested at dawn. A buxomly elegant vintage in the Cape – super low winter rainfall, mild spring with some wind damage & a “normal” summer – resulted in small clusters of fruit, great concentration & darker denser fruit profile of Pinot.
Vinification – Each climat was separately vinified & mature, prior to final blending. The hand harvested fruit was destemmed & crushed into temperature controlled small open top cement fermenters (lagars / kuipe), allowed twenty hours of cold soaking, prior to being inoculated with Pinot specific yeasts, pigeaged by hand over the five day cold ferment, gently pressed into old 300L French oak hogsheads to finish fermentation & undergo malo-lactic. Post malo-lactic the climats were returned to the same barrles matured for 9 months prior to blending trials, completing the final barrel blend & bottled unfined, unfiltered. The blend was allowed to settle in 1500L tank for three months prior to bottling. Only yeast & small amounts of sulphur are added during the process.
Wine – Dense, multi-layered, slowly unfurling its complexities, brooding exotic aromatics & showcasing the exceptional sites from which the fruit originates; deserving of accompaniment by fine rustic country fare - grilled duck breasts, braised lamb shoulder, beef Wellington, coq au vin or simply a sirloin on the braai; good company & much cheer. Decant in youth or cellar to experience its full potential in the next half decade or more to come.