The Wine Advocate | RP 90
Published: May 09, 2024

The 2022 Pinotage presents a soft yet fruity profile with bright acidity, hints of tree bark and spiced plum skins. With a medium body and 13.1% alcohol, it achieves a balance with a mix of red fruitiness, spiciness and tannic structure, making it a fantastic value for its price. The wine aged for nine months in 14% first-fill French oak. 38,112 bottles were produced. Drink Date: 2023 - 2032

Southernright.co.za

Southern Right is re-defining Pinotage with this intense classically styled, clay-grown wine, packed with complex berry fruit, beautiful tannins and subtle wood spice. Full ripeness and the longer hang-time afforded by cooler sites, combined with the complex, more classic fruit aromas and structure resulting from clay-rich soil, make this wine a highly individual expression of South Africa’s unique grape variety.

Soil: Low-vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil
Alcohol: 13.19 Acid: 5.20 g/l ph: 3.61 Residual sugar: 1.90 g/l
Barrel ageing: 9 months
Wooding: 56% 228 litre french oak barrels, 44% 400 litre french oak barrels Tight grain: 100%
1st fill: 12% 2nd fill: 8% 3rd fill: 23% 4th fill: 57%
Blonde Toast: 60% Medium Toast: 40%
French coopers: Various
Yield: 28.20 hl/ha 4.54 tons/ha Production: 2 900 cases of 12 bottles equivalent
Fruit Origin Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 13%, Overberg 61%, Swartland 26%
Vegan Friendly
Release date: March 2022

GROWING SEASON
This stellar vintage was later and cooler than usual. Based on our measure of temperature, the average of the maximum temperatures for the 4 hottest months (crucial to harvest) Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, 2021 came in at 24.3 Centigrade. This compares to 24.8 Centigrade for a long-term average of the equivalent period in Burgundy. In the last 25 years, only 2001, 2004 and 2008 have been cooler. Winter was wetter than usual with 140mm more rain than average, filling dams and building the water table beautifully. Chill units started accumulating later than usual and a cool Spring and later budding accounted for the later harvest. A warm January was a welcome help towards healthy ripening. Any disease pressure from rain showers during ripening was effectively controlled organically. Yields, as always for us, were low.