Jessica Saurwein

Jessica Saurwein’s Continued Success On Her Pinot Noir Voyage – Tasting Her New 2022 Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Jessica Saurwein set off on a pretty difficult mission a few years ago… to try and conquer Pinot Noir in the Cape winelands and produce some noteworthy examples. She of course was not expecting an easy ride from this heart break cultivar. But these are not just wines with pretty labels, they are excellent artisanal examples of premium Pinot Noir that have cultivated a growing and committed following.

The 2022 vintage releases are another pair of beauties, with very little to separate the two wines quality wise. The vintage offered all the building blocks for some quality wines from these Cape South Coast vineyards in the Hemel-en-Aarde and Elandskloof. Jessica herself was very pleased with the vintage and the resultant wines and I am sure followers are going to be well impressed once again.

Saurwein Om Pinot Noir 2022, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, 14% Abv.

Another attractive Walker Bay Pinot Noir from Jessica Saurwein made from top pedigree fruit sourced on the Place of the Gods Farm in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge ward at 300 metres altitude. The wine was aged for 10 months in 228 litre French oak barrels with a 16% new barrel portion. Always a little more savoury and earthy than the Kaaimansgat vineyard expression, this 2022 reveals expressive notes of stewed strawberries, sweet bramble berry spice, red plum, wet peat, and delicately fragrant sweet rose petals. The palate displays impressive concentration of earthy red cherry, red currant, and raisined cranberries with a delicate dusting of sweet exotic spices and pomegranate complexity. A very pretty wine that shows more pure fruited fragrance and finesse over muscle and power while retaining a well-defined, elegant structure with beautifully refined acids. A truly delicious wine to drink over the next 3 to 5+ years to enjoy its purity and precision.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Saurwein Nom Pinot Noir 2022, WO Elandskloof, 14% Abv.

The ‘Nom’ cuvee from Jessica Saurwein always seems to lift and carry the extra perfume and aromatics of the Elandskloof Pinot Noir fruit to another level. This 2022 is no exception with a nose packed full of pressed rose petals, musk and sappy spice, iodine, wild strawberry, cherry, and a definite earthy, bramble berry spice nuance. The palate is broad, full and finely textured boasting a delicate weight of fruit and dry extract together with fine mineral tannins enlivened by a bright, crisp acidity and a taut, determinedly focused finish. A very well-crafted expression of this cultivar that as always, will appeal to true lovers of Burgundy. Drink now and over the next 5 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Saurwein wines are imported into the UK by Swig Wines and retail for circa £45pb inc.

Jessica Saurwein Stakes Her Claim to Best Riesling in South Africa – Tasting the Saurwein Chi Riesling 2022…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

The maiden vintage of the Chi Riesling from Jessica Saurwein was the 2018 made from one Elgin vineyard at Casey’s Ridge on the Vrede en Lust Elgin property. From 2020, a second vineyard from the De Rust farm owned by Paul Cluver Wines, joined the blend to form 40% of the new Cuvee with approximately five tons of fruit.

From 2023 Jessica plans to up the production further taking additional tonnage from Casey’s Ridge. I recently caught up with Jessica in Cape Town to taste her new releases including the impressive 2022 Chi Riesling.

Saurwein Chi Riesling 2022, WO Elgin, 11.5% Abv.

11.5 g/l RS | 7.5 g/l TA | 3.04 pH

This is certainly a wine that has grown in stature year after year to now feature as probably South Africa’s most premium quality Riesling produced. You wouldn’t expect anything less considering Jessica’s German heritage. The aromatics are very Mosel in style with opulent layers of crystalline white peach, talc, yellow citrus rock candy, Granny Smith green apples and just the most delicate waxy mineral hint. In the mouth the wine really comes alive with explosive tart juicy mouth-watering fruits of white citrus, lime cordial, green apple pastille and white crunchy peach all assembled with impressive textural precision, focus and purity. The acidity is wonderfully bright and electric but expertly balanced by a perfect residual sugar component helping to create a very fine textural equilibrium with fabulous persistence and zippy length. Quite simply the best expression of Riesling produced in South Africa. Jessica’s hard work and extreme attention to detail should be celebrated. Drink now and over the next 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines are available in the UK from Swig Wines at approximately £24.99pb. http://www.swig.co.uk

Tasting the Tantalising New Releases from Jessica Saurwein – Part 1: Nom Pinot Noir 2020…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

If you don’t know Jessica Saurwein and her delicious fine wines, let me introduce you to ex-model, super mum and more latterly a high-flying winemaker with an incredibly deft touch. Now in her 6th year of winemaking under her own brand Saurwein, the 2020 vintage sees some of her most accomplished and seductive releases yet. In December 2020 I reviewed her stunning new release 2020 Riesling (93+/100 GSMW) and now, just ahead of international “Drink Pinot Noir Day”, I get the chance to assess her latest red creations – the Nom Pinot Noir 2020 from WO Elandskloof (think Kaaimansgat / Villiersdorp etc) and also the Om Pinot Noir 2020 from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge.

Made from vines grown on shale soils in the Elandskloof Valley near Villiersdorp, the vineyards lie at 700 metres above sea-level and are surrounded by towering mountains making this terroir ideal for cooler climate varieties like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Nom Pinot Noir features classic Burgundian clones 115, 667 and 777 from a vineyard planted in 2008. We all know about the dry 2018 vintage and the cooler, more classical 2019 vintage, but 2020 was a year with ideal ripening conditions. Wind during fruit set led to a reduced crop of smaller berries and thus wonderfully intense musts with medium tannins and vibrantly fresh acids.

Jessica at the new home of Saurwein Wines in Stanford

The grapes were hand-picked and cold soaked prior to fermentation which began spontaneously with natural yeasts. Post fermentation, the wine spent 10 months in a combination of new and older 228 litre French oak barrels.

As if two new stellar Pinot Noir releases wasn’t enough, Saurwein Wines has now found a exciting new home at Waterval farm in Stanford. Jessica and family recently moved to the farm and will embark on a regenerative agricultural farming venture including the establishment of a small vineyard over the next year or two. I can’t wait to visit Jessica and Roland at their new home in the near future.

Saurwein Nom Pinot Noir 2020, WO Elandskloof, 14.5% Abv.

The 2020 Pinot Noir shows an abundance of depth and intensity with aromatics brimming with notes of savoury red cherry, red currant, sappy freshly cut hedgerow and earthy, bramble berry spice nuances. The oak is incredibly well integrated and plays very much a minor backing track support role. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied but dense, wonderfully intense yet simultaneously weightless, fleshy and powerful with delicious savoury red and black berry fruits, ripe sun raisined sloe berries, roasted nuts, hints of wild strawberry and a full, opulent mouth coating finish with finely poised tannins and delightfully balanced acids. Another very detailed, opulent, savoury expression of Pinot Noir from the Cape. Drink this on release and over the next 8 to 10 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting Jessica Saurwein’s New Chi Riesling 2020 – One of the Most Exceptional Dry Rieslings Produced in South Africa To Date…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Never one to shy away from a challenge, there is just something very gentle and chilled about Jessica while simultaneously being one of the most dogged and determined new female winemakers in South Africa. Now days you will usually find Jessica mulling around the winery with a child hanging in a papoose while she tends one of her superb Pinot Noir wines in barrel or checks in on one of her two cuvees of Riesling from Elgin.

The 2020 sees Jessica incorporate a 40% portion of Riesling fruit from the Paul Cluver farm, which is blended together with the original Casey’s Ridge fruit sourced from the Vrede en Lust property of Dana Buys. When I last caught up with Jessica in Cape Town in February at the Cape Wine Auction 2020 with wine trade hubby Roland Peens, she seemed decided that the two parcels would be blended together to make one wine, where as at the New Wave wine show the previous year, Jessica seemed open to possibly creating another second Riesling cuvee. Tasting the results in bottle, I am pleased she eventually decided to take the blended option as the final wine reaches new heights of quality not seen on either the 2018 or 2019 editions.

View from the top of the Casey’s Ridge vineyard in Elgin.

Despite production creeping up to a “massive” 5,900 bottles, this wine evaporates about as quickly as a summer rain puddle in the Karoo desert. There are certainly a handful of delicious Rieslings being produced in South Africa at the moment from the likes of Paul Cluver, Spioen Kop, Lothian and occasionally Carstens Milgliarina, but Jessica’s Chi Riesling remains for me one of the most impressively drinkable Rieslings around.

Saurwein Chi Riesling 2020, WO Elgin, 12.5% Abv.

(RS 7,8 g/l | TA 7,0 g/l)

The new 2020 Chi Riesling from Jessica Saurwein is just a fabulous expression of this Germanic variety. I don’t know whether it’s Jessica’s own Germanic roots that have helped her find a closer affinity with this grape or perhaps just her deft female winemaking touch? Either way, this wine is a real cracker, bursting with energy and electricity and the crystalline purity of artic ice. The nose is delicately fruity with complex notes of citrus blossom, green apple, dry bitter lemon, white peach, grey slate and delicate dried herbs with just the faintest hints of lemon sherbet and rock candy. The palate is chiselled and precise with a tart lime peel zest, a saline line of acidity but also a juicy, mouth-filling breadth that is elegantly dry but also incredibly stimulating. This 2020 shows an extra level of fruit intensity and concentration on the previous 2019 and 2018 expressions and a focused spine of acidity that should help this delicious wine age effortlessly for 8 to 10+ years without a question. So it’s onwards and upwards for Jessica Saurwein and her exceptional range of wines.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)