Made in a way ensuring the personality of site and soil is not over-ridden by the forceful character of the variety, this wine exhibits the typical Southern Right balance of Old World minerality and length with hints of New World palate coverage and body.
The 2021 is a wine that favors origin expressive individuality, minerality and palate complexity ahead of pure, pungent varietal aroma. A significant percentage of fruit from iron and clay-rich soil has added a mid-palate structural component and additional overall complexity to this wine. The Sandstone soils have contributed their typical bright, tensile character and a marked minerality.
The 2021 is a wine that favors origin expressive individuality, minerality and palate complexity ahead of pure, pungent varietal aroma. A significant percentage of fruit from iron and clay-rich soil has added a mid-palate structural component and additional overall complexity to this wine. The Sandstone soils have contributed their typical bright, tensile character and a marked minerality.
Harvest was a touch earlier than usual, beginning in the first week of February. Budding was even and complete, helped by a fortuitous two days over 30 Centigrade in mid-September, but it was unusually late in the Sauvignon blanc.
The weather at flowering was benign, if a little wet. Ripening was a touch uneven - more so in the various Sauvignon blanc vineyards than for Pinotage. Overall the year was wetter than the previous few years (with a total annual rainfall of 849mm for calendar year 2019).
A particularly wetter than average October and January created downy mildew pressures, which became odium and later botrytis pressures, not helped by high humidity and early morning dew. These were however satisfactorily held at bay with organic treatments. The average maximum temperatures for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar were exactly equal to our long-term average of 25 Centigrade (the long-term equivalent for Burgundy for Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep is 24.8 Centigrade), so on our measure, the vintage was cooler than 2019 and equal to the celebrated 2009 and 2015 vintages. Pinotage yields were significantly down on the already low yields of 2019. Sauvignon Blanc yields were very low in our old vineyards and normal in the younger vineyards.
A standout feature of the 2020 vintage was phenolic ripeness at lower alcohol than usual, combined with low sugar to alcohol conversions for the fermentations. A highly positive situation. So despite lower alcohol, the Pinotage is deep, and intense, with a beautiful fine-grained structure.
The Sauvignon Blanc has a marked mineral purity and saline quality. A year with weather challenges that did not prevent our team from achieving an exciting outcome.
Winemaker : Emul Ross
The weather at flowering was benign, if a little wet. Ripening was a touch uneven - more so in the various Sauvignon blanc vineyards than for Pinotage. Overall the year was wetter than the previous few years (with a total annual rainfall of 849mm for calendar year 2019).
A particularly wetter than average October and January created downy mildew pressures, which became odium and later botrytis pressures, not helped by high humidity and early morning dew. These were however satisfactorily held at bay with organic treatments. The average maximum temperatures for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar were exactly equal to our long-term average of 25 Centigrade (the long-term equivalent for Burgundy for Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep is 24.8 Centigrade), so on our measure, the vintage was cooler than 2019 and equal to the celebrated 2009 and 2015 vintages. Pinotage yields were significantly down on the already low yields of 2019. Sauvignon Blanc yields were very low in our old vineyards and normal in the younger vineyards.
A standout feature of the 2020 vintage was phenolic ripeness at lower alcohol than usual, combined with low sugar to alcohol conversions for the fermentations. A highly positive situation. So despite lower alcohol, the Pinotage is deep, and intense, with a beautiful fine-grained structure.
The Sauvignon Blanc has a marked mineral purity and saline quality. A year with weather challenges that did not prevent our team from achieving an exciting outcome.
Winemaker : Emul Ross
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 combining a distinct South African fruit and flavour expression with classic styling and refinement.
It is Anthony’s belief that as an early ripening grape, Pinotage is best suited to cooler areas. It was also his conviction that the stony, high clay content, shale-derived soils on the sites he chose for the vineyards, were best suited to creating the more classic style he was aiming for.
Rigorous yield management and extreme care to ensure harvesting at full physiological ripeness, combine with the terroir to re-define South Africa’s red grape variety.
Founded by Anthony Hamilton Russell in 1994, Southern Right’s aim was to produce a serious, age-worthy Pinotage combining a distinct South African fruit and flavour expression with classic styling and refinement.
It is Anthony’s belief that as an early ripening grape, Pinotage is best suited to cooler areas. It was also his conviction that the stony, high clay content, shale-derived soils on the sites he chose for the vineyards, were best suited to creating the more classic style he was aiming for.
Rigorous yield management and extreme care to ensure harvesting at full physiological ripeness, combine with the terroir to re-define South Africa’s red grape variety.
