Full Stop Rock

Roasted red meats, Roasted lamb, Roasted Pork, Cold meat

The main vineyard contingent to this wine lies mostly on the lowest slopes and bottom plateau, at altitudes of 225 to 245m, in the porphyritic granite soils of t he Upper Hemel-enAarde Valley . This appellation ranges from 4 to 8 km in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean . The climate is cool and temperate, where parallel mountain ranges channel the southerly oceangoing winds through the appellation during the summer. These southerly winds in turn create regular sea mists and overcast conditions, moderating the temperatures in the valley. The annual rainfall is 910mm, with 50% falling in the winter months (May – August). An unprecedented vintage with remarkably long ripening. The growing season started off with rapid and even budding due to some warm spikes in the middle of September. Abundant rain fueled the growth of the vines under mild temperatures, where we managed to avoid any mildew issues with a massive deluge of rain in the middle of Pinot noir and Chardonnay flowering in late October. The rest of the growing season was characterised by mild temperatures and intermittent rains, with another substantial rain event during veraison. The harvest months of February and March saw us picking in between weekly rains. Botrytis rot was rampant in much of the valley though our crop losses were fortunately negligeable.

Matured for 12 months in 500L barrels produced in Burgundy and custom made for the various vineyards. Tighter grained oak is preferred for subtle flavour, with longer seasoning and slower, lower temperature toasting. New oak comprises 5%. The wine is racked to stainless steel tanks for another 6 months of élevage. No fining and filtration before bottling.

The grapes are hand-picked and packed in to large -surface area crates to limit pressure on the bunches. The day’s harvest is cooled down overnight to 8ºC in the winery’s refrigerated cold room. The bunches are sorted on a conveyor, destemmed, and fall directly to the fermenter. No sulphur is used in the winemaking, allowing diverse micro-organisms from the grape itself to flourish unrestrained in the spontaneous fermentation. Some parcels also contain a discretionary percentage of whole bunches together with their stems. Cold maceration ensues for 5 to 7 days at 8 to 10°C. All parcels are fermented with indigenous yeasts, and only pigeage (punching down) applied for extraction. The wine spends approximately 25 days on the skins before pressing. After pressing the wine is racked and left to complete its malolactic ‘fermentation’ and maturation in barrel on its lees.

Newton Johnson Vineyards is owned and managed by the Newton Johnson family. The farm is based in the upper Hemel en Aarde Valley near the seaside town of Hermanus an hour and a half’s drive out of Cape Town. This is a popular tourist destination famous for some of the most spectacular land-based whale watching in the world lush indigenous fynbos a floral kingdom home to 1500 species and exclusive to the Cape mountain walks and bike trails. Led by Dave a Cape Wine Master with a thesis on Pinot Noir and his wife Felicity (nee Newton) the Newton Johnson family moved to the Upper Hemel en Aarde Valley in 1995 built a cellar and started planting vines shortly thereafter. This enthusiasm for wine and Pinot noir in particular was passed on to and eagerly adopted by his sons Bevan and Gordon. They in turn have taken this family cellar and vineyards to new heights in exploring the nuances of this grape and their vineyards.