This site is the original source for Stompie’s Pinot Noir. First planted in 2000, and named after the nearby Palmiet River, the vineyard is densely planted to 3,500 vines per hectare with North-South rows on a southwest-facing slope, allowing for more even ripening. Since 2013 there has not been a single spray on the vineyard and it was certified organic in 2018. The soils are mostly “Koue Bokkeveld” shale with table mountain sandstone and clay at an altitude of 1,000 feet. The 2023 winter was one of the wettest winters South Africa has seen in the last 15 years, with rains over 650 mm is some areas of the Swartland. In Elgin, they had similar conditions with a wet winter and big down pours of rain. Due to the conditions, picking ended up being about 5-6 days earlier than usual, starting early February. The 2024 vintage marks the switch from this wine being under the J.H. Meyer Signature Wines line to the Mother Rock line. Different packaging, same wine.
The grapes were hand harvested into small picking bins, monitoring the pH closely as Stompie feels this is the most important thing when fermenting reds whole-cluster. The grapes were kept in as much of an anaerobic setting prior to fermentation in order to maintain as much freshness as possible. The intact bunches were placed into small one-ton fermenters and sealed up at a warm 85°F to naturally ferment for 14 days. Once the wine went dry it was then gently pressed, with full lees, to a single 25hL concrete egg for maturation. After twelve months the wine was bottled directly from the concrete egg with just a dash of sulfur. No fining or filtering.
