2015 Storm Pinot Noir

The 2015 Pinot Noir Vrede has a slightly deeper color. The nose implies a little more skin maceration than its peers, with more black fruit evident here, intermixed with raspberry and cranberry. It's just missing a little vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth, rounded texture, showing what might be a little whole-bunch influence. Pleasant with decent length, though it's just missing some tension and brightness on the finish. A second bottle was slightly oxidative and smelled a bit barnyardy, therefore I defer giving a score. Tasted blind at the 10-Year-On horizontal in London.

They started the vintage two weeks earlier and finished later. Grape skins were thick. Full ripeness was achieved relatively quickly despite cooler ripening months. The harvest period saw half the usual rain and more sunlight intensity. Hannes Storm says that the 2015 wines are built for the long haul. Yields were 1 kg/vine. 11 months in 228-litre French oak barrels, 25% new. RS 3.1 g/l, TA 5.9 g/l, pH 3.48. 5,400 bottles produced. Quite a lot of colour compared with the other Vrede Pinots in this vertical, but wow, wow, wow, the perfume on this wine is glorious! I could smell this for ages. Roses, peonies, and intense sweetness of fruit.  But not ‘sweet’. It's still a fundamentally savoury wine in the elegant sense of the word. Mushrooms. Autumn leaves on forest floor. White pepper and lift on the finish. Fans out on the finish. Fragrant finish with quite tight but not constrictive tannins. It feels as if it will be giving off its glow for some years to come. (TC)

The 2015 Pinot Noir Vrede is quite deep in colour. The nose is concentrated with dark berries, cola, undergrowth and a touch of tobacco. There is a slight feral element to this Pinot. The palate is balanced with furry tannins, moderate depth and quite tarry towards the finish with graphite on the aftertaste. Drinking perfectly now.