First release: Storm Pinot Noir 2024

Vrede pinot comes from a steep northeast-facing slope in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, planted in 2008 on clay and limestone soils, and always carries a beautiful perfume, currently of raspberry, rosehip and wildflowers. There’s an inherent elegance and seamlessness to Vrede which is very charming, even in youth. This is the farm that Hannes and Nathalia Storm farm entirely themselves (they also make a chardonnay from here). On the palate the fruit is bright and pure, ripe but with a tangy edge, and supported, delicately, by finely woven, silken tannins, which are nevertheless more present than usual in 2024. This is often the earliest approachable of the Storm pinot trio and that’s again true even in this more concentrated vintage. Bottled under agglomerate cork from the 2024 vintage. Drink from 2027 to 2034. 13.5%

Ridge - naturally from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, the furthest inland appellation of the Hemel-en-Aarde - is the youngest of the Storm pinot triumvirate; the first vintage was 2015, while Vrede and Ignis debuted with the 2012 vintage; and the vineyard itself was planted in 2009, one year after the other two. This is a much cooler site – sitting at an elevation 200m higher than Vrede and more exposed to the southeasterly wind – giving a much longer hangtime. Correspondingly, Ridge is the most linear pinot of the three, with an almost cassis character on the nose, and then red cherry and cranberry on the palate, lifted by dried-rosemary and fynbos aromas. Vibrant and refreshing, there is a chalk-powder feel to the fine-grained tannins and a long, taut, focused finish. Bottled under agglomerate cork from the 2024 vintage. Drink from 2028 to 2034. 13.5%

Ignis, as is its wont, is characteristically more reserved, with a darker, brooding profile of blackberries and black cherries. From a northern slope planted in 2008 in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley (opposite Newton Johnson and next to their Windansea vineyard), this 2.4-hectare block is distinguished by lots of big stones on top of the mostly granite-sandy soils. Hannes Storm feels that the higher sandy component brings a more angular form of tannin to the wine which is always more structured than Vrede. There is real power and depth this vintage, displaying intense blueberry fruit on the palate with a wild-herb inflection, and a stony minerality. Give this time. Bottled under agglomerate cork from the 2024 vintage. Drink from 2028 to 2034. 14%

Drink from 2028 to 2034.

A six-bottle case containing two bottles of each of the following:

Storm Ridge Pinot Noir, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge 2024
Storm Ignis Pinot Noir, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 2024
Storm Vrede Pinot Noir, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley 2024

Notes PDF