Momento Piekenierskloof Grenache Noir 2023

Momento Piekenierskloof Grenache Noir

Region: Western Cape, South Africa

Vintage: 2023

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Grenache Noir

ABV: 13%

The wine opens with earthy, lightly peppery aromatics, layered with notes of fynbos, tomato leaf, red apple skin, and wild strawberry. The palate is taut and red-fruited, showing a grippy texture and an intensity that belies the wine’s light colour. Fresh, crunchy, and vivid, it offers a precise expression of its elevated site.

The Piekenierskloof is a remote area in the Citrusdal mountains, north of the Swartland. It is home to some of the Western Cape’s oldest vineyards. Fruit for Momento's Piekenierskloof Grenache Noir is sourced from two neighbouring dryland bush vine sites. The oldest was planted in 1987. The vines are planted at 750m above sea level on Table Mountain sandstone soils. This high elevation brings cold nights, allowing the grapes to retain high acidity and develop delicate, complex aromatics. The vines’ age results in low yields of small, concentrated berries.

Marelise follows a ‘hands-off’ approach in the cellar to produce the purest site expression. After early-morning hand harvesting, the grapes were destemmed into small fermenters with 20% whole clusters and underwent four days of cold soaking on skins before spontaneous fermentation commenced. Hand punch-downs twice daily ensured gentle extraction, followed by a further 10 days of post-fermentation maceration to refine tannin texture. After a total of four weeks on skins, the wine was basket-pressed into older 225-litre French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation, spending 16 months in barrel

Born from a passion for Mediterranean varieties and old-vine fruit, Momento is the solo project from dynamic winemaker Marelise Niemann. Marelise honed her craft at Beaumont Family Wines from 2007 to 2014, sharing cellar space with Crystallum’s Peter-Allan Finlayson and Thorne & Daughters’ John Thorne-Seccombe. She also worked extensively in California, the Rhône, Burgundy, and Portugal. Her fascination with Grenache was sparked in 2010 while in Priorat, where, together with winemaker Eben Sadie, she was impressed by the vibrant fruit produced by old vines. Returning to South Africa, she sought out parcels of old vine Grenache to make her own elegant and soulful wines. In 2023, she was named Tim Atkin’s ‘Young Winemaker of the Year’ in recognition of her work.