Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A DAY FOR PINOT NOIR APPRECIATION
TODAY is a very special day. It is World Pinot Noir Day.
This delightful grape is known for its difficulties and its ability to reduce winemakers to tears, which somehow makes me just love it all the more. From the vine, where its weakness, thin skin and tight clusters makes it prone to diseases, and with its temperamental attitude towards climate, to the cellar where the finicky aging process can be unpredictable, Pinot Noir is not to be trifled with.
However, get it right and put it in a bottle – still, bubbly, on its own or with its favourite lover, Chardonnay – and you will be richly rewarded. As far as reds go, it’s fairly light – and can be served chilled – so it goes well with many types of food, or can be enjoyed on its own.
Avoid too much sweetness and spiciness and look rather towards a nice piece of Emmental cheese on a crusty baguette, or a meal of salmon, beef or – my best pairing – duck.
Grown primarily in Burgundy, France, in South Africa it can emerge in small quantities in some of our wine regions, but the Walker Bay/Hemel-en-Aarde valley near Hermanus is simply the best; Pinot Noir adores it there. As you read this, I am sitting at Bouchard Finlayson celebrating this auspicious date with a glass of its 2016 Galpin Peak Pinot Noir, a wine which has been raking in the awards, locally and internationally.
Because I’m obviously writing this before the facts, let’s refer to the tasting notes which describe the 2016 vintage as having “an earthiness on the nose, followed by excellent colour and bold palate complexity. Dark red fruit with a savoury mixture of cherries, plums and cinnamon drift into an extended palate feel, while 11 months in French oak barrels will allow for an extended maturation.”
Peter Finlayson was the first winemaker in the Hemel-enAarde Valley. In collaboration with celebrated Burgundian winemaker, the late Paul Bouchard, he established the farm Bouchard Finlayson in 1989 as one of South Africa’s first premium Pinot Noir wineries. Together, they broke the soil, planted the vines and built the cellar that would become worldrenowned as Bouchard Finlayson.
Today, owned by the Tollman family and collaboratively run by Victoria Tollman and Finlayson, winemaking traditions continue on the estate under the stewardship of young winemaker Chris Albrecht, who first cut his teeth on Pinot noir in 2010 when he joined the estate.
“Not every vintage presents the chosen balance of grapes and 2016 turned out to be a vintage where our decision making became all important!” says Finlayson.
Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2016 is R355 a bottle at the cellar door.
Situated on the R320, the winery is open for tastings.
For more information,
028 312 3515, email info@ bouchardfinlayson.co.za, or go to www.bouchardfinlayson.co.za