We are now in the wonderful position of having both our 30th vintage of Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Pinot noir (2010) and 30th vintage of Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Chardonnay (2011) available to our customers at the same time. This is a significant milestone for us!
The trade price for a bottle of the 2010 Pinot noir is R190.79 vat excl. (R1,144.74 vat excl. per case of 6 bottles) – a very small increase on the 2009.
Our team is particularly proud of the 2010, which winemaker, Hannes Storm, believes to be one of our very best. The fruit profile is more pure, voluptuous and lifted than usual at this stage, partly a function of the increased percentage of the darkly perfumed Dijon clone 115 in our mix, and partly a function of the vintage and precision winemaking. The wine has a beautiful – and characteristic for Hamilton Russell Vineyards – vibrant, energetic, mineral core, with the usual fine tannins resulting from our high clay-content, iron-rich shale derived soils. A voluptuous coating and athletic structure.
Yields were low (as always) at only 31.8 hl/ha and the alcohol at 13.7% is right on our “sweet spot” for phenolic ripeness in a vintage with temperatures almost exactly equal to our long term average.
We hope you enjoy our 30th vintage as much as we do – and thank you from us all for your ongoing support of our wines.