Justerini & Brooks forms new partnership with South African producer Storm Wines
We are delighted to be the newly appointed agents for Storm
Wines, from South Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. For a number of years we have
been buying and drinking these wines but it was not until we visited their
small, family estate on home turf that we appreciated the attention to detail
and passion that goes in to producing their seemingly effortless Pinot Noir and
Chardonnay.
As former head winemaker at Hamilton Russell, Hannes Storm
has long been a respected viticulturist and winemaker. His hand in establishing
new vineyards and consulting on other projects gave him the impetus to strike
out on his own and leverage his experience to plant and acquire fabulously
healthy vineyards in each of the three Hemel-en-Aarde wards: Valley, Upper
Valley and Ridge. One of the few New Wave producers to work with exclusively
estate-owned fruit, Hannes exploits these different elevations and soil types
to produce wines of real authenticity and terroir expression. A sensitive hand
in the winery allows each plot to sing, taking a Burgundian approach to
winemaking that sees very gentle extractions and aging in 25-30% new French
barrique. Favouring a fresher, early picked style, these genuinely cool climate
wines stand out for their purity and precision, both red and white, encouraged
by natural fermentations with no interventions whatsoever.
On top of their inherent quality, they are delightfully
affordable. Delicious in youth they can also be cellared with confidence.
Hannes’ first vintage was 2012, which was released in 2014, and those wines
have developed beautifully in bottle. Moreover, with every passing year, as the
vines get older, he appears to be able to tease out ever finer textures and
finer, more mineral complexity. The only downside of this whole project is the
volume! A proudly boutique winery, production rarely exceeds more than a few
hundred cases of each wine. This, combined with friendly prices, makes them a
tasty proposition for importers and customers around the world and, as such,
they tend to sell out on release.
As we embark on this new partnership together, we are
delighted to be releasing the 2019 Chardonnays and 2018 Pinot Noirs next week.
The ‘19s have a racy purity to them and are as accomplished as many a fine
white Burgundy. The ‘18s are succulent and more fruity in style but with zip
and definition. They are sure to make new friends. We only hope that in the
near future conditions will allow for a tasting in the UK, introducing Hannes
Storm and his wonderful wines to all of our faithful customers. Watch this
space.
Click here to shop the Storm Wines selection.