The timing of the 2022 harvest was similar to 2021, though slightly later than average. The average temperature during the four crucial months leading up to and during harvest was 25.18°C—higher than the norm and higher than 2021.
Ripening was slow, but fortunately the harvest was completed before the first rains in early March. The preceding winter was the wettest in 24 years and was followed by an unusually dry September, resulting in healthy, even budburst.
An intense Pinotage with a hint of forest floor, packed with complex berry notes, beautiful tannins and subtle spices. Full ripeness at lower alcohol and the longer hang-time from cooler, more marginal sites—combined with the more complex, classic fruit aromas and structure that come from both granitic and clay-rich soils—make this wine a highly individual expression of South Africa’s unique grape variety.
92 POINT Tim Atkin Southern Right is now a blend of Walker Bay and 30% Swartland grapes, a change that has given the wine more concentration and tannic backbone. Curated in 14% new wood, this is sappy, savoury and floral, with bramble and black cherry fruit and perfume to spare.
About Southern Right Vineyard
Southern Right Vineyards is a small specialist producer of Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc, located on a breathtaking 448-hectare estate in the cool, maritime Hemel-en-Aarde Valley appellation, just behind the old fishing village of Hermanus. The aim of Southern Right, founded by Anthony Hamilton Russell in 1994, was to produce serious, age-worthy Pinotage wines that combine South African fruit and flavour with classic style and finesse. Strict yield control and harvesting only when the grapes have reached precisely the desired ripeness—together with the perfect terroir—have helped set new standards for South Africa’s red “national grape”.
