2020 Kershaw Elgin Pinot Noir
RANGE: Clonal Selection
VARIETAL INFORMATION: 100% Pinot Noir made from French clones
PN777, PN667, PN115, PN114 and PN113.
WINE OF ORIGIN: Elgin, Western Cape, South Africa
TOTAL VINEYARD PRODUCTION: 6.87 tons selected from 6 tiny parcels of Pinot Noir.
HISTORY: In 2012, owner Richard Kershaw MW, established Richard Kershaw Wines to
create clonally selected, site-specific, cool climate wine paradigms from apposite noble grapes
i.e. ones with the ability to produce world-class examples. SA’s coolest wine district, Elgin Valley,
reflected these principles benefitting from higher altitude, ocean proximity, specific cloud cover
sequencing, high cold units and a large diurnal range, enabling the germane grapes, Chardonnay,
Syrah and more recently Pinot Noir, to show a sense of place.
VINTAGE: Hand-Picking Dates: 14th – 24th February 2019
Brix at Harvest: 22.60 – 24.90
SEASON: Whilst 2017 experienced a cool winter to enable good vine dormancy, the rainfall
was low and followed similar conditions felt in 2015 and 2016. Budbreak took place in ideal
warm sunny conditions whilst flowering was a touch earlier than normal; strong blustery
winds meant pollination took longer to complete. As a result, berry set was uneven
leading to some smaller berries that despite a lower yield did have good concentration
of flavours. Despite expecting an early harvest an unusually cool December slowed
down ripening whilst some January rain during veraison helped nourish the soils and
more importantly, helped the vine focus on grape ripening rather than foliage & root
growth. Harvest took place under blue skies in the second half of February.
Importantly, night time temperatures were cooler than usual enabling
better colour and flavour formation; retention of acidity; steady phenolic
ripeness. The net result is wines with fabulous natural acidity, pure and
penetrating fruit flavours and fine powdery tannins.
WINEMAKING: The grapes were handpicked into small lug baskets and then
manually sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed. The destemmed
berries fell onto a vibrating table in order to remove jacks and substandard
berries before dropping uncrushed into small 500kg open-topped fermenters.
The grapes underwent a 3-day maceration before spontaneous fermentation
began. A gentle pigeage program was charted and the grapes remained on
skins for 10-16 days. The wine was then racked to barrel under gravity and
the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded in barrel
followed by a light sulphuring after which the wine was racked off Malolactic
lees and returned to cleaned barrels for an 11-month maturation. No finings
were necessary and the wine was simply racked and filtered prior to bottling.
BARREL SELECTION: A small number of artisanal coopers were selected,
all from Burgundy and only French oak was chosen. 12% of the oak was new
with the remainder split into 2nd and 3rd fill barrels of 228, 300 and 500
litres.
ALCOHOL: 13.50% For more information see extended technical sheet
available on www.richardkershawwines.co.za
TOTAL PRODUCTION: 5850 bottles were produced, each individually
marked on the label.
TASTING PROFILE: Captivating floral attributes underscored by purity, focus
and freshness framed by fine powder tannins yet cushioned by a succulent
texture and flavours of black cherry, pomegranate, rose petal and raspberry
Kershaw Elgin Pinot Noir
