HAMILTON RUSSELL VINEYARDS - PINOT NOIR 2005

A five bottle wooden case with a vertical of Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot noir the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009...

To celebrate their milestone of 30 vintages of Pinot noir, Hamilton Russell Vineyards released a five bottle (half decade) vertical of Pinot noir, with each vintage - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 - carrying a specially chosen or commissioned South African artwork as a back label.

2,400 bottles of each vintage from 2005 were held back for the project, for a total of 2,400 five bottle cases. Each year only one fifth of the wine (480 cases) will be made available, but the price is expected to increase each year in line with the holding costs. This is to ensure that at least something is available each year until the next half-decade vertical has built up for release. 50% will be sold locally and 50 % internationally.

Proprietor, Anthony Hamilton Russell, said:  “while many enthusiasts have cellared Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot noir over the years, there are still a lot who only encounter the wine at a youthful stage. This vertical allows enthusiasts to really get to know our Pinot noir and its story of place over time and through different life stages.  I am proud to be able to offer a half-decade vertical of Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot noir to customers with a highly developed interest in wine. I believe that to maximize the pleasure of a lifetime of enthusiastic wine consumption one needs to add a few long-term relationships to an otherwise promiscuous indulgence. Wines that can be followed, vintage after vintage, and experienced at several different stages of development. A much more profound pleasure and depth of understanding grows from this - and for me, the best wines to form a deeper relationship with are those that tell the story of place more than of people and grape variety

Since the first Pinot noir plantings on Hamilton Russell Vineyards in 1976 and from the release of our first vintage in 1981, many very able people have been involved in what has been a pioneering and extraordinary endeavour. Each of our wines however, has first and foremost been an expression of place - more than of people or of grape variety - and second to that an expression of vintage.

52 hectares of ancient, extremely clay-rich, stony soils on a 170 hectare Estate in the beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, surrounded by fynbos nature reserve and unusually close to the cold Atlantic, where the wines are grown, made, matured, bottled and labeled on the property. Our Pinot noir is an expression of this place. From the outset this expression has showcased an almost uniquely classic and “European” style within the New World, with each vintage showcasing it in a subtly different way. This is something which has excited wine collectors and Pinot noir enthusiasts - particularly Burgundy enthusiasts - for 30 vintages.”

The artworks on the back labels are by the following artists:

            2005 – William Kentridge

            2006 – Gerard Sekoto

            2007 – Gail Catlin

            2008 – Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef

            2009 – Beezy Bailey

 

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