Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir 2017

  • 91 Wine
    Spectator
  • 91 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 90 James
    Suckling
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Tesselaarsdal Wines Pinot Noir 2017  Front Bottle Shot
Tesselaarsdal Wines Pinot Noir 2017  Front Bottle Shot Tesselaarsdal Wines Pinot Noir 2017  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2017

Size
750ML

ABV
13.8%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Probably the best Tesselaarsdal to date, the 2017 has greater depth, structure and plushness of palate than 2016 (and even 2015) without sacrificing the clean, lifted blue fruit that is a characteristic of the best Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Pinot Noir. This is a wine with the tight minerality of the old-world and the pure sumptuous fruit of the new-world.

Professional Ratings

  • 91
    Alluring cherry and blood orange fruit flavors glide through, lined with light mineral, rooibos tea and wood spice accents. Light-bodied, but balanced and refined through the lacy finish.
  • 91
    A new brand to watch, this stunning Pinot opens with initial scents of forest floor and orange-spiked cranberry, red currant and rhubarb. The palate is smooth and satiny, with fine tannins, bright acidity and ripe, fresh red-fruit characters that all meld together masterfully. Subtle accents of cocoa, cedar and baking spice linger on the close atop a note of cherry hard candy.
  • 90
    Red cherries, citrus, orange peel, lime soda, smoke and some tar, as well as cedary elements below. Medium body, lots of tangy acidity and a taut finish.

Other Vintages

2020
  • 91 Wine
    Spectator
2019
  • 90 Wine
    Spectator
  • 90 Robert
    Parker
  • 90 Wine
    Enthusiast
2018
  • 90 Wine
    Enthusiast
Tesselaarsdal

Tesselaarsdal

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Tesselaarsdal, South Africa
Tesselaarsdal Berene Sauls - Owner Winery Image

Berene Sauls has exceeded all expectations with Tesselaarsdal. In more than one respect, Tesselaarsdaal is a breakthrough. Formerly employed by Hamilton Russell Estates and mentored by Anthony Hamilton Russell, not only is the first wine project for Berene, but importantly it is the first wine project wholly-owned by a member of a “previously disadvantaged community” in the Hemel-en-Aarde area and, indeed, the Overstrand. The wine is named after the historic rural hamlet Tesselaarsdal, not far from Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, where Berene was born. It was at Tesselaarsdal where Berene’s ancestors once lived as freed slaves on land bequeathed to them in 1810 by former East India Company Settler, Johannes Tesselaar. The naming of her first wine appropriately honors her roots. Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay continue the legacy of the Sauls and the Tesselaarsdal farm.

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Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”

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With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.

Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.

South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.

PBC9615301_2017 Item# 724830

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