2016 Seven Flags Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
Extensive individual berry sorting prior to destemming, no crushing of the grapes. Cold maceration at 12–14 °C for 6 days. The fermentation in 3.5-ton wooden vats was allowed to start naturally before inoculating with selected Burgundian yeast after a third of the fermentation was completed. During the fermentation, the skin cap was punched through by hand no more than twice per day. After fermentation, the wine was pressed and racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation and remained on the fine lees for 11 months. 38% new oak. TA 5 g/l, RS 2.1g/l, pH 3.63. Light to mid bricky red. While this has the red-fruit sweetness on the nose of the Village and Estate Pinots, the extra time in bottle and the extra new wood has given this a more savoury character with the start of more tertiary qualities – spice, smoke and a touch of undergrowth. This has good balance of fruit and tannin structure, plenty of spicy fruit and supported by definite yet fine-grained tannins. Nice freshness too. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Seven Flags Pinot Noir is showing a little reduction but underneath there are well-defined cranberry and red currant notes. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit and nicely structured, leading to a crisp, quite edgy, undergrowth-tinged finish. While not reaching the level of its Chardonnay counterpart, this is still delicious Pinot Noir.
The 2016 Seven Flags Pinot Noir, Paul Cluver’s flagship Pinot, was racked to 300-liter French oak barrels, where the wine completed its malolactic, and spent 11 months in 25% new oak, the rest second-, third- and fourth-fill. This is easily the best of the three recent Pinot releases that I tasted at the estate, almost Pommard-like on the nose with brambly red berry fruit and fine mineralité . The palate is clean and fresh on the entry, offering tart red berry fruit, gentle grip in the mouth, moderate weight and impressive tension on the stylish and quite persistent finish. This has long been one of the Cape’s finest Pinot Noirs, and this year is no different.