It’s a hard job but somebody has to do it

Over the past few months Under the Influence has been running around our beautiful winelands, working on a very exciting new project. You will certainly get to hear about it in the near future, but for the time being, it will remain a mystery. All we will reveal at this stage is that it involves some incredible wines, some passionate and exceptionally inspiring winemakers and a spot of filming. More on that later…

But since the culture of sharing is so deeply ingrained in the art of enjoying wine, we thought we’d share with you a glimpse of a little spot of paradise that this “new project” took us to on a crisp, cool Tuesday morning.

Hamilton Russell Vineyards is located in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in the Walker Bay region, just over the hill from the town of Hermanus. Located only 1500m from the cool Atlantic Ocean as the crow flies, the microclimate is ideally suited for grape growing, allowing a long, slow ripening of the gorgeous orbs, which results in a wonderful concentration of flavour and expression of place.

The intrepid Julia doing some extreme filming at Hamilton Russell overlooking Hermanus.

After spending some time becoming familiar with the unique terroir, proprietor Anthony Hamilton Russell recognised a striking resemblance of the growing conditions to those of Burgundy in France, particularly its clay-rich soils. This led to the decision to focus exclusively on the production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the two archetypal Burgundian varieties.

Mr Hamilton Russell himself

The vineyards taking a well deserved winter break.

Beautiful clay-rich soils, similar to what you'd find in Burgundy.

Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay. Ripe pear balancing on a mineral tightrope!

Hamilton Russell Pinot noir. Dark, spicy, alluring. Pure hedonism in a bottle!

Hamilton Russell Vineyards celebrated their 30th vintage last year, consistently producing some of the finest examples of Pinot noir and Chardonnay from the New World.

They are a little over an hour’s drive from Cape Town and seriously worth a visit! As are the handful of other wineries in the area, from Bouchard Finlayson and Newton Johnson, to Creation and Ataraxia a little further along the strikingly beautiful winding road towards Caledon.