2023 Peter Max Pinot Noir, Crystallum

Naturally fermented Pinot Noir with 50% of the fruit de-stemmed and the remainder left as whole clusters. Extraction is kept to a minimum during active fermentation with a total time of 4 weeks on the skins.

Red cherries, cranberry, rose and lavender lead the way aromatically before tomato leaf and sumac. The palate is dense and focused, with a tartness from sour cherry and rhubarb balanced by riper notes from mulberry and black cherry. A dry, grippy tannin profile supports the weight of fruit.

"I have been a huge fan of Peter-Allan Finlayson’s Crystallum since I tasted his wines on my inaugural trip to the Cape, at the same tasting where I first met Chris Alheit when they shared a cellar. Here is one of Hemel-en-Aarde’s most refined and terroir-driven expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, utilizing native yeasts, judicious whole-bunch addition and modest levels of new oak, the Clay Shales seeing partial use of foudres and 500-liter barrels."  Neal Martin, Vinous.com