In The Cellar
It was into this impoverished agricultural environment that the first modern winegrowing enterprise was introduced with the pioneering and visionary purchase of a Hemel-en-Aarde property by the Hamilton Russell family in 1975. It wasn’t long before it became apparent that Pinot noir and Chardonnay were the most successful grape varietals in this cooler area, producing individual and exciting expressions of the site and soils. The early local and international success of these wines encouraged the development of numerous other properties in the Hemel-en-Aarde. The Hemel-en-Aarde wines are not just getting more numerous, but better and better, as committed landowners and unusually talented winemakers and viticulturists continue to engage with a terroir seemingly ideally suited to these two specific noble varieties. Excitingly, as knowledge and understanding of the minutiae of the three appellations are uncovered, a clutch of other noble grape varieties is vying for consideration and recognition. The future is bright.
In The Vineyard
The Hemel-en-Aarde is home to more than 20 wine producers (and growing) and there are several factors that, in combination, set it apart from other South African wine producing areas. Firstly, the Hemel-en-Aarde is an area of unusual grape varietal focus for South Africa. While there are highly sought-after wines made from a number of different cultivars, plantings are overwhelmingly made up of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Secondly, there are no large volume producers and production is on average small and very high-end. In terms of the number of trophies, classic scores, gold medals and 5 star ratings per case of wine produced, the Hemel-en-Aarde is unmatched. Thirdly, the properties are almost all family owned and operated, by the families that pioneered them from unplanted ground.
Made from 23 year old vines, yielding 2 -2.5 tons per hectare. The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon had a very long hang time which gave it super smooth, ripe, dry fine grained tannins on the palate. Harvested from 10th March to 7th May, an almost unheard of length of picking spread for two small 1.59 hectare and 0.71 hectare vineyards, which are vinified separately by parcel within each vineyard, with each parcel matched to a different cooperage. Aged for 23 months in barrel and then almost another 24 months in bottle, the wine certainly hits the ground running in a most spectacular fashion. Such pristine purity and precision with beautiful purple and black berry fruits, creme de cassis, blue berry and an essence of watermelon making for a deliciously exotic, hedonistic wine. So incredibly lithe and fresh in the glass with tangy acids, a sleek but supremely intense concentration of blue and black berry fruits and a pronounced maritime salinity on the finish. But it’s undoubtedly the ‘wagyu-styled’ fine tannins that are massaged to perfection with an imperceptible mineral grip and a sleek velvety texture thanks to the longer hang times. So incredibly delicious. Wow! 97 points - Greg Sherwood MW
