The Fairy and The Crocodile Pinot Noir

This Pinot Noir pairs excellently with dishes such as roasted duck, grilled salmon, mushroom risotto, and soft cheeses like Brie or Camembert.

The Storyteller Collection is inspired by the tapestry of Indian Ocean island tales and legends. They are fables and reflections that are whimsical and playful, but at the same time teach us the timeless lessons and deep truths that lie at the heart of everything. Savour four distinctively African stories brought to life for you, rooted in the ancient soils of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and crafted by those who believe that every wine should have its own story to tell.

These Walker Bay vineyards of Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge are situated within close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. the maritime climate being more "temperate" in style, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly sea breezes through the appellation during the summer. These winds in turn bring regular sea mists and overcast conditions to the valley and with it more even temperatures. The average temperature is 19°C and rainfall, approximately, 750mm per year. All grapes were harvested by hand in cool early morning temperatures and left in a coldroom overnight before processing the next day. the specific vineyard is composed of clone 115 and 777, the blend contained mostly 115. One of the highest altitude bearing Pinot block on the farm is used which allows slow ripening, building a wine with texture without being under pressure for fast sugar accumulation.

It spent 10 months in a combination second fill and third fill barrels. The wine was removed from barrel and blended to a stainless steel tank and kept for a further 2 months. This was done to give the wine time to homogenise whereafter it was filtered and bottled.

Each clone was destemmed into stainless steel fermenters whilst 10% remained as whole clusters. A cold soak period of 3 days was allowed before spontaneous fermentation took place. Fermentation lasted about 10 days, during alcoholic fermentation the must was lightly pumped over the grape skins twice a day. A further 4-5 days on the skins post ferment was allowed. The wine was then pressed off to barrel for maturation.