Pinot Noir

Crispy duck pancakes, grilled quail, pulled or char siu pork.

Our wooded red wine is made from a grape which is arguably the most suited of any variety to express terroir and sense of place. Grown on low-vigour, stony, clay-rich Bokkeveld Shale derived soils, the maritime-influenced climate is so marked that Ataraxia’s Pinot noirs are the very last to be picked in the Hemel-en-Aarde.

Aged 11 months in 225L French oak barrels.

Grapes were hand-picked into small crates and then sorted, destemmed and gently crushed at the cellar. A 10 day pre-fermentation cold soak period in open fermenters was followed by a temperature-controlled ferment, peaking at 28°C for a total cuvaison of 22 days. The cap was gently punched down twice a day during alcoholic fermentation. The wine was then pressed and racked to carefully-selected French oak barrels, 22% of which were new and where 100% malolactic fermentation occurred.

Hemel-en-Aarde is Afrikaans for “heaven and earth” and the claim is justified. Our estate sits on a particularly heavenly stretch of land beneath a lofty peak of the Babylon’s Tower mountain range. In addition to its unrelenting beauty Ataraxia is home to some of the most spectacular terroirs South Africa has to offer. In 2004 The Skyfields Farm was visioned into the Ataraxia wine label when husband and wife Kevin and Hanli Grant and a few friends purchased this 47-hectare prime vineyard property. More than a decade later we are associated with crafting wines of incredible finesse balance and depth; wines that proudly hold their own on the international wine stage.