Bouchard Finlayson was one of seven Pinot noir producers who contributed to the success of the 2017 Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction. One of the highlights on the South African wine calendar, the Auction raised R13,2 million in aid of the Guild’s Protégé Programme for the development of talented young winemakers and viticulturists through the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust.

Just under 3000 cases (x6 bottles) of rare wines were sold at the Auction, of which the sixty cases of Bouchard Finlayson Auction Reserve Pinot Noir 2012 raised a total of R200 000.

2012 was an exceptional year for Pinot noir in the Walker Bay district. Bouchard Finlayson’s Auction wine is described as having ‘a core of plush vibrant fruit and tannins that encompass spicy, well centred dark forest berry flavours’. It was matured in the best new French Oak barrels adding complexity and excellent aging potential.

The wine was made by Peter Finlayson, one of the eight founding members of the Cape Winemakers Guild, which was formed in 1985. Working with winemaker Chris Albrecht, Finlayson continues in an executive management role at Bouchard Finlayson, after he first established the winery in 1989. Finlayson was the first modern day winemaker in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and was instrumental in putting the Walker Bay wine district on the map, which today is lauded worldwide, in particular for its top quality Pinot noirs and Chardonnays. Today the Bouchard Finlayson Estate is owned by the Tollman family, under leadership of Victoria Tollman.