Iona, Kroon Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, Elgin, South Africa, 2024

Product code: 5470

Producer Profile

At 420m above sea level, set high above the picturesque Elgin Valley overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Andrew Gunn founded Iona among some of the coolest vineyards in the Cape.

In a country where cool-climate vineyards are like gold dust, these vineyards are veritable nuggets. The growing season is extremely long, harvesting up to 2 months after Stellenbosch, which allows Andrew to create wines with complex flavours and a fresh, elegant style. The viticultural approach is emphatically hands-off: the land is farmed according to organic and biodynamic principles, with particular focus on ensuring the health of the soil, and pests are kept under control by the resident flock of geese that roam the vineyards.

Viticulture

The Kroon Vineyard with its ferrocrete soil, is the highest vineyard on Iona's land. Grapes were selected from the a single south facing vineyard, with lower solar radiation of 4800wh/m2.

Winemaking

Grapes were hand‑harvested into small crates, chilled overnight, and carefully sorted before being destemmed without crushing. After a 5–7 day cold soak, fermentation occurred naturally in open‑top fermenters, with gentle hand punch‑downs twice daily and temperatures peaking at 28°C. The wine was transferred to 300L and 500L French oak barrels (20% new, remainder 2nd–4th fill) for malolactic fermentation and aged on the lees for 15 months. After 12 months in barrel, it was racked and blended in stainless steel, naturally clarified for two months, and bottled.

Tasting Note

The wine offers an array of seductive black fruits that include berries, cherries and ripe summer plums. The palate is gentle yet generous with pure succulent fruit, bright acidity, charming velvety fine grained tannins resulting in a wine that is nuanced, textured and perfectly balanced with a long savoury finish.