Momento Wines Grenache Noir Swartland 2022

95 points -James Suckling

"A radiant Grenache, glowing with a healthy ruby colour, releasing scents of rose petal, pomegranate and fresh raspberry on the nose. The palate is suffused with powdery tannins, tapered and crisp, and the wine is refined and perfumed, with admirable freshness. There’s no hint of booziness or caramelisation here, but neither is there any leaness, greenness or asperity to the flavour. Perfectly judged and deliciously transparent Grenache that’s especially good in 2021. Grapes for this wine come from the Langkloof farm in Swartland. It was planted as bush vines in 2002, using cuttings from the oldest Grenache vineyard in the Cape, which itself was planted in 1952 using an old Grenache clone with thicker skins. The approach here is gentle and low-extraction with minimal working of the grapes. Marelise uses around one-third whole bunches, with the rest foot-trodden and added on top in the fermenter. There follows a cold soak four days, then spontaneous ferment (as with all Momento wines) and gentle punch downs twice a day by hand. It ferments slowly in small open-top tanks. Including a post-ferment maceration, the juice spends four weeks on skins, and then the wine is matured in 4,000-litre foudres for 16 months, with some time in bottle before release. If you've never tried this wine, pick it up in this vintage." 07/2024