CWG auction’s ‘highest earner’ - Peter Finlayson’s CWG Unfiltered Pinot noir 07.

Peter Finlayson of Bouchard Finlayson fame received the highest price of R5200 for a case of wine (equivalent of 6 X 750ml bottles) for his Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG) Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2007 (1,5 litre bottles). Records tumbled at the 25th Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild auction held in the Stellenbosch winelands over the weekend, when a record number of buyers spent over R5,2 million rand on the 2009 lineup of wines made exclusively for the auction by members of the Guild. Bidding was brisk and the wines fetched unexpected high prices right from the onset. “This just goes to show that even with the global economic downturn, there will always be a market for exceptional quality,” says Johan Malan, CWG chairman.

Further recognition was bestowed upon Bouchard Finlayson when receiving the Pinot noir Trophy by the prestigious 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards in the UK for the Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2008. These recent achievements underline this wine producer’s uncompromising commitment to producing only the finest quality wines.

Referring to these two achievements winemaker (and Pinot extraordinare), Peter Finlayson says “the Hemel en Aarde Valley has consistently offered world class quality Pinot noir wines. It’s the result of an ideal combination of soil and climate (terroir) we have here - a situation which is fortunately repeated year after year.

Bouchard Finlayson’s Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2008 was described by the judges as “earthy, farmyardy and rustic on the nose ... with wild strawberry jam fruit (and) a dash of green stalk flavour and a dry finish.” It was also placed right at the top under Decanter’s “Who makes the best Pinot noir in the World?” with a five star rating.

With regard to the Unfiltered Pinot noir 2007, Finlayson says super summer weather conditions presented quality fruit which met all expectations of the rewarding 2007 Pinot noir vintage. “The combined results from high density plantings, low cropping levels, heavy clay soils, the best barrel selection and years of experience are all reflected in this cameo bottling of three chosen barrels.”