Almost every wine producer has their time in the sun, but with new South African wineries opening at a rate of almost one a week (for much of the past decade) the challenge has been to convert “flavour of the month excitement” to something more enduring. Becoming an undisputed classic in a category is what a producer aims at.
In my 20 years on Hamilton Russell Vineyards, I have seen the number of South African wineries grow significantly. In 1995 for example there were 254 wineries. There are now 604. The competition has increased enormously, so our team was particularly proud when the South African Wine Index rated both our Pinot noir and Chardonnay 100/100. A perfect score for the only two wines we make. In total, 12 South African wines achieved a score of 100 out of thousands of labels reviewed.
The South African Wine Index does not look at a single tasting or competition for its ratings, but views success based on several scores and competitions (local and international) over a period of three vintages. In other words it attempts to get closer to a judgment reflecting what we refer to as the “collective wisdom of the marketplace”.
Internationally, we were also proud that both our Pinot noir and Chardonnay achieved the highest scores for these varieties in the recent (and first) thorough review of South African wine for Robert Parker. Our 2009 Pinot noir and 2010 Chardonnay scored 93, while our 2009 Chardonnay scored 94. In addition, our Pinot noir 2009 has been selected by the Wine Spectator for the Critics’ Choice Grand Tasting at the New York Wine Experience – one of around 250 of the top wines for the year from around the world.
We believe our reputation for consistently making one of the most “classically” styled Pinot noirs and Chardonnays in the New World is first and foremost a function of our particularly clay-rich, stony soils in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, unusually close to the cool South Atlantic Ocean. We work very hard to reflect the best of our remarkable site in our wines – vintage after vintage.