Pinotage
2020
Southern Right is a small Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc specialist located on a strikingly beautiful 448 ha property in the cool, maritime, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley appellation, just behind the old fishing village of Hermanus. Founded by Anthony Hamilton Russell in 1994, Southern Right's aim was to produce a serious, age-worthy Pinotage (South Africa’s unique red grape variety) combining a distinct South African fruit and flavour expression with classic styling and refinement. It is Anthony's...
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Southern Right is re-defining Pinotage with this intense classically styled, clay-grown wine. This dark, deep and structured wine with its bright acidity and dry minerality, has unusually elegant and classic styling for this unique South African variety.
Packed with complex berry fruit, beautiful tannins and subtle wood spice. Full ripeness and the longer hang-time afforded by cooler sites, combined with the complex, more classic fruit aromas and structure resulting from clay-rich soil, make this wine a highly individual expression of Pinotage.
Emul Ross may be better known for his Pinots but he has a sensitive touch with Pinotage
too. This concentrated, textured example has violet and vanilla spice aromas, bramble and blueberry flavours and appealing texture.
Raspberry and boysenberry fruit flavors are ripe and brambly in this well-balanced and expressive medium-bodied red, backed by bright acidity and lightly chewy tannins. Notes of dried fig, black licorice, graphite and thyme linger on the finish.
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2020 was a slightly earlier vintage, with higher rainfall than normal. Yields were significantly lower, leading to phenolically ripe grapes with lower than normal alcohol levels. This shows juicy, dark plum fruit on the palate, a touch of smokiness and a savoury aftertaste. At less than £20, it is good value for money and a fine introduction to Pinotage. Aged nine months in a combination of French oak barrels (228L to 400 L) from François Frères, Mercurey and Saury.
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A bright, brambly red, with abundant herbes de Provence and sweet smoke accenting a core of ripe raspberry and blueberry fruit. Juicy, well-spiced finish.
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