This South African Pinot Noir Was Made for the USA - And It’s Unlike Anything You’ve Tasted

There’s something deeply personal about Pinot Noir. It’s a variety that doesn’t allow shortcuts, just as it doesn’t hide where it’s from or how it was made. And that’s exactly what makes the 2024 Pinot Noir from Edith May such a remarkable debut. Crafted by Nikki Weerts, a South African winemaker who honed her craft in California, this wine is a love letter to both terroir and tradition. If you’re searching for the best South African Pinot Noir enthusiasts should have on their radar, this is where you should start.

Meet Nikki Weerts: A Winemaker with Global Perspective

Nikki’s winemaking story began in Stellenbosch, but truly came into focus during her nine years in California. During that time, she crafted Windracer Pinot Noir—a boutique label born from the partnership between Barbara Banke, owner of Jackson Family Wines, and her close friend Peggy Furth. Jackson Family Wines is one of the most influential wine families in the U.S., known for iconic brands like Kendall-Jackson and Vérité. It was through Windracer that Nikki deepened her love for Pinot Noir and honed the elegant, site-driven style that defines her winemaking today.

Living in Sonoma with her husband, Graham Weerts (renowned winemaker for Jackson Family Wines, and now their South African arm, Capensis), Nikki found her voice in Pinot. “It’s an honest grape,” she told us. “It reflects exactly where it comes from, and that’s why I love it.” That love became her calling card.

The Birth of Edith May

When Nikki and her family moved back to the Cape Winelands in 2022, she carried a dream with her: to make a wine under her own label, one that honored her roots while speaking to everything she had learned abroad.

The first vintage came together quickly. By November 2023, she found a vineyard on the West Coast in a small town called Ebenezer. The 2024 Pinot Noir - her first under the Edith May name - was picked, fermented, and barreled within months. Named for her beloved grandmother, Edith May isn’t just a label. It’s a tribute to family, femininity, and legacy. “It felt right,” Nikki said. “This wine is the start of something deeply personal.”

A Vineyard That Gives Back

Ebenezer isn’t your typical vineyard site. Once a Rhenish (German Protestant) mission station, the land was redistributed in a government land claim, granting 12 hectares to local families. With limited resources and little infrastructure, it was difficult to achieve the full potential of these vineyards until Nikki stepped in.

“I wanted the wine to have purpose,” she explained. “Not just great fruit, but a story of upliftment.” By partnering with the community and reviving three hectares of Pinot Noir, Nikki brought new energy - and real potential - to the project.

Though she won’t continue with this specific vineyard, the 2024 vintage stands as a beautiful record of a place, a moment, and a mission.

Crafting a Cool Climate Pinot Noir with Elegance and Restraint

Pinot is famously finicky. It ferments fast, bruises easily, and demands a winemaker’s full attention. Nikki leans into that challenge. “It’s all about temperature and cleanliness,” she told us. “And letting the vineyard speak.”

Using a low-intervention approach, she ferments with organic yeast that mimics spontaneous fermentation, keeps new oak to a minimum (around 20%), and harvests in the cool early mornings to preserve freshness. The result? A cool climate Pinot Noir that’s delicate, expressive, and unfiltered in the best way.

It’s a wine that wears its origin and its winemaker’s intent with elegance - showing floral notes, red berries, and a purity of fruit that Pinot fans from California and Oregon will instantly recognize and adore.

A Pinot Noir Made for American Palates

What makes this wine especially exciting for U.S. drinkers is Nikki’s unique understanding of what American consumers love in a Pinot Noir. Having made wine for top-tier Sonoma labels, she’s attuned to the balance of fruit, finesse, and freshness that defines standout New World Pinot.

This wine was made with that in mind. “It’s a South African Pinot Noir,” Nikki emphasized, “but it carries the style I learned in the U.S.” It’s no wonder the owner of Yama, Ōku, and Eleven (three of the most prestigious restaurants in the Cape Winelands), Ryan Shell, called her Windracer Pinot Noir one of the best he’s ever tasted. This latest chapter, Edith May, is the next evolution of that legacy.

A Glimpse of What’s to Come

While the Edith May Pinot Noir 2024 is a standalone vintage - made before her full private label launch - Nikki is already working on what’s next. “This wine is the beginning of the journey,” she says. And it shows. With her talent, clarity of vision, and connection to both the land and her story, it’s clear that Edith May is just the start of something special.

How to Get Your Hands on a Bottle

This is a micro-production wine made in extremely limited volumes and not available anywhere else in the U.S. It’s available exclusively through Cape Ardor’s Wine Club, featured in the upcoming allocation.

If you’ve been searching for a South African Pinot Noir with American soul, made by one of the most promising winemakers working today, this is your moment. Join the club, taste the wine, and discover what may be one of the best South African Pinot Noir wines ever introduced to the U.S. market.