YOU CAN'T miss it as you leave Hermanus and motor along the R320 between the vineyards and up the hill out of the ‘Hemel-en-Aarde Valley' towards the ‘Upper' reaches and the ‘Ridge' en route to Caledon – big pink panels on the side of the cellar and an invitation to stop by for a wine tasting and/or lunch inside with floor-to-ceiling windows or outside on the deck. The La Vierge sign proclaims ‘Wines of the Valley', although their logo goes with ‘Wines of Desire', and certainly there is a sexiness to the names on some of their bottle labels. However, the top-tier reds and whites from ‘The Virgin' (the English translation of the French ‘La Vierge') have a serious presentation and a pedigree to match, particularly in respect of their pinnacle Pinot in the Apogée series, one of South Africa's best of the best.
Continuing to please wine lovers around the world, the trophy at the 2024 SA Terroir Wine Awards for the 2022 vintage of La Vierge's Apogée Pinot Noir followed a score of 96 for the 2021 Apogée at the 2023 International Wine & Spirit Competition in the UK and a number of accolades for the 2020 vintage that included a trophy at the 2023 International Wine Challenge as well as a score of 95 in Decanter Magazine that year.
The cellar is in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley; the vineyard that the grapes come from is up the road on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. There wasn't much of the 2022 in the first instance and, given the price for one of the country's finest examples of this variety, it was surprising that at the time of writing the wine had not yet sold out.
LA VIERGE APOGÉE SINGLE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR 2022
WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. 15-year-old vines (vertical shoot positioning). Grapes hand-harvested in the cool, early morning, with 75% of them destemmed and 20% left as whole clusters in preparation for a cold soak lasting three days, then spontaneous fermentation (wild yeast) lasting 10 days with light pump-overs. Wine left on the skins for four to five days after fermentation before 10 months maturation in second- and third-fill barrels. Thereafter, the wine was blended in a stainless steel tank, where it remained for six months before filtering and bottling. Total production: 2576 bottles.
Alc 13.2 | RS 2.2 | TA 6.2 | pH 3.4
Producer's Tasting Notes: Dark plum, cherry and violet aromas involving the savoury, spicy expression of cloves, black pepper and coriander seed. Textured palate and vibrant acidity. Supportive oak helps carry the finish of soft forest floor and spicy notes.
R340pb ex-cellar.
One Response
Great wine… but not my favourite wine tasting venue. The manager of the tasting room, unfortunately I do not have his name, needed to be reminded that the customers are not stupid, even when we are from Johannesburg, the biggest domestic market for our wines. Saw some beautiful large wine glasses, which he told me in a sneery remark cost R600 per glass… I will not be stopping here again!