Storm Vineyards, Ignis Pinot Noir 2019

Ignis Pinot Noir hails from a northern slope in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Organically farmed, the vineyard is cluttered with round pebbles on the soil surface with underlying decomposed granite. Latin for fire, ignis refers to the fact that granite is an igneous rock formation from fire to stone.

Winemaker Hannes Storm worked 12 vintages in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley before he discovered two parcels of land with exceptional terroir and embarked on his eponymous project, Storm Wines. His aspiration is clear: to create wines with a sense of place. His natural approach and careful viticulture produce classically proportioned wines with distinctive personality and an innate purity.

Storm focuses on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Located in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, their three vineyard sites – Ignis, Vrede and Ridge – each possess an individual character. Storm Wines is now the only producer with Pinot Noirs from each of the three appellations in the Hemel-en-Aarde. The Ignis vineyard is located on a northern slope in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The vineyard is cluttered with round pebbles on the soil surface with underlying decomposed granite. The Ridge and Vrede sites both rest on a cool, eastern slope in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, with low-vigour, stony, clay-rich Bokkeveld shale soils and a cool Atlantic Ocean influence, producing wines with high natural acidity and cool minerality.