Constantia and Hemel-en-Aarde compete for Napoleon

That Napoleon whiled away his final exile on St. Helena drinking vast quantities of Constantia nectar Vin de Constance has long been used by that appellation as a marketing USP. Now that monopoly on the little corporal is being challenged from an unlikely source: the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge (heaven and earth ridge). Highlighted as one of five SA recommendations from the purple pen of Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times today, the tasting note for Peter-Allan Finlayson’s Crystallum, Cuvée Cinéma Pinot Noir 2008 lets le chat well and truly out of le sac.

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“Richer and much more integrity than the Peter Max cuvée. Fresh, smooth textured with good, fresh acidity and some sweetness. The name derives from the fact that Napoleon Bonaparte was filmed on this site apparently.”

One of the cheekiest attempts at cashing in on Napoleon’s cachet vis-a-vis Pinot Noir came from the parents of Pinotmeister Alex Dale when they gave him the middle name Napoleon.

But it came as quite a shock to read that Napoleon had visited the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, as did the news that films were made in South Africa in the early 19th century. While the Cuvée Cinéma is now sold out, perhaps a more useful recommendation is for Peter-Allan’s dad’s drop, the Galpin Peak 2009. This is superb Next Level Pinot Noir: dense and intense with an elegance and poise of the Empress Josephine herself. If heaven was eating foie gras while being serenaded by vuvuzelas for Sydney Smith, then this is the appropriate wine accompaniment.