Pinot Noir, Ignis, Hemel en Aarde, 2023
Ignis 2023 is silky and sweet yet incredibly precise, offering a bit more mid-palate intensity, less flattering than the Vrede but complex with saline notes, warm spices, tea, and a stunning, long finish. Where Vrede is 50% clay and 50% shale, the 2.4ha Ignis site is cluttered with round pebbles on the surface with primarily decomposed granite underlying. Situated at 225m elevation in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, it is (warm) north facing but more exposed to the wind. It has been farmed organically since 2015. Aged for a year in 25% new French oak.
critic reviews
The 2023 Pinot Noir Ignis was picked a week later than the Vrede on the day that the heavens opened. Fortunately, the fruit was safely in the vat by that time. This has another lovely bouquet that has a tad more intensity than the Vrede cuvée. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine bead of acidity. Again, there is just a touch of soy that infuses the red fruit, gentle grip, quite linear in style with a classically-styled, slightly sour cherry finish. Very fine.