2014 Cuvee Cinema Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Cuvée Cinema Pinot Noir is about 35% whole bunch fruit and 30% new oak, around 420 cases produced per year (actually Crystallum's biggest release). It has a pretty nose with more complexity than the 2014 Mabelel - detailed strawberry and raspberry fruit with an underlying mineralité that comes through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine structure and fine tannin, quite saline in the mouth. There is a stoniness here, a sense of reserve that lends it Burgundy-like allure, plus a healthy dash of white pepper on the aftertaste that keeps the mouth tingling. This is another fine Cuvée Cinema.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
They paid for half the planting and the grapes – a 20-year contract. From 2011 to 2014 he made wines at Alheit, but now he makes them at Gabriëlskloof outside Bot River. Clones 667 and 115. High density, 7,500 vines per ha. Cool site. Pale ruby. Exciting tension and life. Pretty tense. (JR)
(30% new oak; vinified partly with whole clusters): Full medium red. Rather cool, laid-back aromas of red berries, licorice and menthol. Dry and classic but youthfully unevolved, offering serious concentration to its berry and spice flavors. Finishes with distinctly firmer tannins than the Peter Max bottling; this will require a few years of cellaring to expand in texture and gain in complexity.