Falstaff Magazin International 01/2021

wine / PINOT NOIR

wine / PINOT NOIR Harvest is in full swing on this vineyard in Hemel-en- Aarde Valley - which means ‘heaven on earth’. Below: Peter-Allan Finlayson of Crystallum sniffing one of his wines. < are extremely high altitude vineyards, but they seem less convincing than those from the cooler, lower-lying south. Across the Andes, in Chile, it is the Pacific rather than latitude that creates the coolness in a rather similar fashion to California. It is Aconcagua Costa, Casablanca and San Antonio which surrounds Leyda that are home to Pinot Noir but there also is a growing trend for Pinot Noir from Bío Bío in the south. Sebastian Labbé, chief winemaker at Santa Rita Estates, notes how “promoting the aromatic profile and the structure” of the wines has moved centre stage in Chile. New oak influence is on the wane and more tenderness comes through. The cool Pacific can certainly be felt in the wines’ brisk, bright freshness. SOUTH AFRICA: COOL SECRETS Pinot Noir has a special link to South Africa: together with Cinsault it is the parent to its national grape variety Pinotage. First planted in South Africa in 1927, Pinot Noir never really took off. Even today the country is not primarily known for Pinot Noir, but it is the more recent developments, again in cooler, coastal vineyards of Cape Agulhas, Walker Bay with its Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Overberg and Elgin that Pinot Noir has found exciting new homes. Two pioneers were key: Tim Hamilton Russel and his winemaker Peter Finlayson were the first to plant Pinot Noir in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Finlayson went on to found Bouchard Finlayson. His son, Peter-Allan Finlayson of Crystallum, one of South BEST OF South Africa RESTLESS RIVER PINOT NOIR LE LUC 96 2019, HEMEL-EN-AARDE VALLEY BOUCHARD FINLAYSON PINOT NOIR 96 GALPIN PEAK 2019, HEMEL-EN-AAR DE VALLEY CRYSTALLUM PINOT NOIR LITIGO 96 2019, OVERBERG SAURWEIN PINOT NOIR NOM 2020, 95 ELANDSKLOOF PAUL CLUVER PINOT NOIR ESTATE 93 2018, ELGIN Photos: wortmann-brandt.com, Getty Images/David Silberman, Restless River, Getty Images/Morsa images 22 falstaff winter 2021

Africa’s foremost Pinot winemakers, also based in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, followed in his father’s footsteps. “We are fortunate enough to have small pockets in South Africa where Pinot Noir works,” he says. “The sea is colder in summer than it is in winter, which moderates the temperature,” he explains. Currently, Pinot Noir accounts for less than 1.5 percent of South African plantings but the little that is there is compelling. ENGLAND: THE NEWCOMER England is probably the most recent arrival on the global Pinot Noir scene, with a vintage as recent as 2018 providing a real turning point. England’s climate is as marginal today as Germany’s was 30 years ago, but growers and winemakers have a lot of expertise. Naturally, most Pinot Noir goes into England’s thrilling traditional More tasting notes online at falstaff.com THE SEA IS COLDER IN SUMMER THAN IT IS IN WINTER, WHICH MODERATES THE TEMPERATURE. PETER-ALLAN FINLAYSON WINEMAKER AT CRYSTALLUM method sparkling wines but the few wines that are made as still, red Pinot Noir show real promise and beauty. While much is made of the vineyards in the counties of Sussex, Kent and Hampshire, the clay soils in the south-eastern county of Essex are turning into something of an Eldorado of Pinot Noir. A WHOLE WORLD OF PINOT NOIR A few die-hards still cling to the idea that the only true Pinot Noir is made in Burgundy. However, the evidence in the glass suggests otherwise. Who knows where the next great Pinot region will be? Pinot Noir bears out an incontrovertible viticultural truth: combining world class sites with a world class grape variety can only mean one thing: compelling wine with the power to touch and move us. < BEST OF England BLACKBOOK PINOT NOIR NIGHTJAR 93 2018, ESSEX GUSBOURNE PINOT NOIR BOOT HILL 93 VINEYARD 2019, KENT DANBURY RIDGE OCTAGON BLOCK 93 PINOT NOIR 2018, ESSEX SIMPSONS PINOT NOIR RABBIT HOLE 91 2020, KENT HUSH HEATH ESTATE BALFOUR 90 LUKE’S PINOT NOIR 2020, KENT Pigeage, or punching down the cap of the fermenting grapes, is key in gently extracting tannins and colour from Pinot Noir’s delicate grape skins. winter 2021 falstaff 23