- 100% Pinot Noir
- Single vineyard named after a movie based on the life of Napoleon were shot on the site
- Cuvée is selected from barrels that were designed to produced the highest quality Pinot Noir with the planting of high density vines using disease-free Dijon clones
- 60% whole bunch & 40% whole berries fermented with only native yeasts in stainless steel tanks for 31 days
- Aged for 11 months in French oak, 25% new
Info
Producer:
Vintage:
2024
Country:
South Africa
Region:
Walker Bay
Appellation:
Hemel-en-Aarde
Variety:
Pinot Noir
Color:
Red
Farming Practice:
Sustainable
Sizes Available
| Full Bottle | ZA-CRY-12-24 | 6/750ml |
Resources
Press & Reviews
James Suckling
Score
95
Date
2025-11-03
"This is wonderfully perfumed, showing potpourri, lavender, sandalwood, wild cherries and hints of sage. It,s medium-bodied and classy, with firm, fine-grained tannins supporting the fruit and floral complexity. Very long and focused. 60% whole-cluster fermentation. From a 1.6 hectare block. Drink or hold. 5,387 bottles produced."
Wine Advocate
Score
95
Date
2026-02-26
"The Crystallum 2024 Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Cuvée Cinéma Pinot Noir comes from a 1.6-hectare southwest-facing parcel planted in 2009 and is fermented with 60% whole-bunch fruit. All free-run juice is used, and extended maceration builds texture and nuance. Compared with Mabalel, this wine offers greater red berry definition and a broader mouthfeel, with peppery and savory tones woven through the fruit. The cooler aspect tempers ripeness, preserving lift and aromatic detail. Clay shale soils contribute both tension and layered complexity to this pretty South African Pinot Noir."
Vinous
Score
94
Date
2025-10-02
"The 2024 Cuvée Cinema comes from Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge and contains 25% whole bunch, aged for 11 months in 228 and 300-litre oak barrels. This has a gorgeous bouquet with expressive red cherry, raspberry and bergamot scents, perhaps the best defined. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, a little tart in style, but it fans out beautifully on the finish. Excellent."
REVIEWS FROM PAST VINTAGES
Decanter
Score
98
Date
James Suckling
Score
95
Date
2024-11-25
"An elegant, bright and red-fruited pinot noir exuding pomegranate, wild-strawberry, red-tea, iron and dried-orange aromas. It™s medium-bodied, showing fantastic tightness and structure while retaining an airy quality. Lightly spicy pink-peppercorn character coming through. Try from 2025."
Wine Advocate
Score
95+
Date
2025-06-05
"From one of the most beautiful wine territories in the world, with green fields and softly rolling hills, the Crystallum 2023 Hemel-En-Aarde Ridge Cuvée Cinéma Pinot Noir reveals an extremely fine texture and a fragile personality. This is a very special wine. In fact, of the various wines in this flight, the Cuvée Cinéma is my favorite. Production is 6,427 bottles, all packaged with a red wax capsule. It sees three weeks of skin contact during fermentation and light extraction techniques, including daily pump-overs. Some 30% whole-bunch fruit is used. The wine ages in French barrel for 11 months, with 25% new oak."
Vinous
Score
93
Date
2024-09-19
"Picked before the rains, the 2023 Cuvée Cinema comes from the same parcel as the Clay Shales Chardonnay with high-density planting. It includes around 25% whole bunches and was matured in 20% new oak. Often one of Crystallum's strongest cards in the pack, this has a wonderful cranberry- and wild-strawberry-scented nose, with briar and light sous-bois scents percolating through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine, sturdy backbone, but the tannins are finely tuned with a pure, lingering, savory/dried blood finish. Superb."
Wine Spectator
Score
90
Date
2023-06-02
"An elegant red, with a delicate skein of ground anise and white pepper winding through mulled cherry, plum sauce, iron and violet. Fresh and well-meshed, with fine tannins emerging on the finish. Drink now through 2028. 650 cases made, 15 cases imported."