Cheers to the wines of South Africa 🇿🇦
This Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir is unique in that the grapes used to produce it primarily came, not from Hamilton Russell vineyards, but rather from neighboring vignerons.
Hamilton Russell made this unprecedented decision in the aftermath of devastating wild fires that imparted smoke taint to its estate-grown grapes. Unwilling to compromise on quality, I applaud Hamilton Russell for its tenacity and willingness to forge ahead to create this delicious Pinot Noir for its customers. 👏👏👏
This wine is comprised of fruit hailing from three different Hemel-en-Aarde (aptly meaning “heaven and earth”) Wards within the Walker Bay District, in the Cape South Coast Region of South Africa’s Western Cape.
This wine is a reflection of community, camaraderie, and commitment to excellence.❤️
👁 It is medium ruby with pale fuchsia rim variation.
👃 On the nose this wine has a medium(+) intensity of youthful aromas. The aromas include candied cherry, strawberry rhubarb preserves, violet, dried orange peel, white pepper, star anise, clove, and nutmeg.
👄 On the palate this wine is dry. It has medium(+) acidity, a medium body, medium alcohol, medium tannins, and medium intensity of flavors consistent with the nose. This wine has a medium finish.
Hamilton Russell, Pinot Noir, Walker Bay, ABV 13.5%. Vintage 2019. — 3 years ago
We had the 2014 Vintage on 9/30-10/1/22. Our PN in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. There were tastes of black cherry, plum and baking spices. Well balanced, medium bodied with a smooth texture. A real good wine from Moshin — 2 years ago
Changwen’s.
Sweetly ripe black fruits in the nose of the Ponsot 2006 Clos de La Roche Cuvee Vieilles Vignes prepare the way for a more succulently, generously sweet fruit, plush texture, and generally sunny disposition than that presented by the corresponding Clos St.-Denis. Ripe cherry and red currant flood the creamy, silken palate with sweetness, while some of the same notes of citrus oil, floral perfume (here iris), and peat as exhibited in the Clos St.-Denis swirl about, too. Saline, chalky suggestions help offer contrast and a sounding board to the fruit, and this finishes with exhilarating lift, riveting interplay, and phenomenal length. Here is a combination of textural allure and backbone for which velvet gloves and iron fists seem inappropriately mundane – not merely archaic – metaphors. Blind – I must confess (and did, to Ponsot) – that I would more likely have guessed this to be Musigny than Clos de la Roche. In an extreme instance of a phenomenon shared by many of the best 2006s, I find this irresistible now; find it hard to imagine its having ornery or sulking phases; yet expect it will be worth following for 20 years.
Picking chez Ponsot began predictably late – on September 27 – and lasted until October 5. As might have been expected, Laurent Ponsot acted rigorously in the vineyards in the immediate aftermath of hail and eventually on the sorting table (overseen, he notes, by an especially meticulous team of three young women) to insure that any effects were minimized. (For some notes on the often unorthodox methods Ponsot employs, readers should consult my report in issue 170.)
— 3 years ago
SIGHT: lightly hazy with tiny bubbles at first, finishing off hazy milky off-white yellow. SMELL: overripe lemon, tropical fruits, apricot. TASTE: summer. Tart, high acid. Light in body. Zippy and tangy. Like the aftermath of swigging orange juice. — 5 years ago
The sheer beauty of some wines can leave you almost speachless and the 2018 Colgin IX Estate is such a wine. A gorgeous floral perfume of rose pedals and violets is followed by laser-like focused aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, red and black plum, iodine, graphite, cedar wood, black pepper and a hint of earth. The mouthfeel is off the charts, mingling depth, power and complexity with flawless elegance. The long, lingering finish feels like the aftermath to a heroic movie climax. Spectacular! Drink now until 2060. — 2 years ago
When first opened I got wonderful aromas of browned meat and leather. This has great fruit forwardness with an acidity that cuts in with impeccable timing. After decanting, it opened up and softened with scents of violet flowers growing in freshly tilled earth and pine resin in the tannic aftermath. Seriously, I'm not making this shit up.
Definitely will buy again at this price point (25 €!) and lay a few bottles down for 2-3 years where I have hi expectations that it will develop well. — 3 years ago
Perfect Napa Cab. Aromatically romances you with kisses of milk chocolate decadence and blackberry pie. Then brings your palate to its knees upon first kiss that is equally complex in this marriage of dessert flavors and dark berry melange. Would not change a thing! The finish culminates in a glorious crescendo of harmonious tannins and juice, and lingers delicately in the aftermath of climax. This delicious wine is available on www.freerunjuicewine.com — comment and tag me if you would like a discount code! Cheers friends! — 4 years ago
Looking for something new with a compelling story? Aftermath is the capolavoro from a retired math professor cum quant trader who now makes wine. No expense spared to make this wine from a top vintage. It’s all about the kirsch and black cherry with a oak backbone. Really hedonistic and pleasurable. Drink within next 2-3 years. — 5 years ago
Baltar666
This was quite good! Balanced and minerally with bitterness and a sweet backbone. Would buy again. August recommended it at the Cheese Shop. Drank it during the election devastation and in the aftermath. At least the wine went down easy. — 15 days ago