Southern Right releases their Hemel-en-Aarde Valley grown, made and bottled 2009 Pinotage
This is the 15th vintage of Southern Right’s quest to redefine South Africa’s grape Pinotage in a more classic, refined, site expressive style and the first Pinotage through the new Southern Right cellar on our beautiful 447ha property in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley overlooking the Walker Bay. What a great vintage to christen our new cellar with. The 2009 has a pure, intense dark fruit perfume with a brooding, savoury, spiciness and athletic structure. This will be a very long lived wine, but appeals in its youth through sheer intensity of complex fruit and zingy structure. Probably the best Southern Right Pinotage to date.
And the newly released 2010 Sauvignon blanc is doing wonderfully around the world ……..
Our 2010 Southern right Sauvignon blanc has been in the market since August and is sadly already around 50% sold. The wine has been very well received internationally – where our more complex mineral palate and less uni-dimensional fruit forward nose have us routinely compared more with Loire Sauvignon blanc than with other New World styles. By blending grapes from both sandstone-derived and clay-rich shale-derived soils, we achieve greater mid-palate complexity, length and minerality. Additional complexity is built in by blending 9 different vineyard sites and 5 different clones. Grape origin is as follows: Own grown Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 42%, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 12%, Walker Bay 46%.
Our unusually close proximity to the sea helped us avoid the excesses of the heat waves of 2010 and the vintage was as cool as 2009. Southern Right has made a name for age-worthy, classically styled mineral Sauvignon blanc with very consistent high quality and value.
To ensure ongoing availability in South Africa a large percentage of our production is reserved for our local market.
We look forward to seeing you at our new Southern Right cellar in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley soon.
All the best!