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Cecilia, Pinot Noir, Ceres, 2024

Hand-harvested grapes are naturally fermented in large open-top barrels with 10% whole bunch included. After a gentle press the wine rests in old oak for 14 months before bottling. This is a serious Pinot Noir that expertly treads the line between the ripe fruit expression and the delicate, finely wrought texture that marks out the best examples of the grape. Redcurrants and raspberries to the fore with subtle spicy notes adding complexity. Balanced and long. Very fine. Now-2030

The wines of Cerina van Niekerk are no stranger to SVS as for several years she was the winemaker at Piekenierskloof. Cerina now has her own project which ties together two of her passions: wine and music. Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and the sales of these wines supports the Cecilia Foundation which provides music education and therapy to underprivileged children and adults in communities and schools across the Cape. It’s a very good cause underpinned by excellent winemaking.

Cerina sources the wines from farms and parcels across the Cape matching grape and location to produce the gentle, unforced, dare we say andante, style she prefers. Cerina has raided her old contacts in Piekenierskloof for the grapes for her crystalline Cinsault and then headed to the Ceres Plateau where she is one of a small number of winemakers to spot the potential for excellent Pinot Noir.