SAWi Awards Ranks Bouchard Finlayson As Top Red Wine Producer in South Africa

Bouchard Finlayson has been ranked as the Top Red Wine Producer in South Africa in the 2017 South African Wine Index (SAWi) awardsBouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir scored a full 100 as the No 1 Pinot Noir in South Africa and was placed the 11th highest ranked wine overall in South Africa. Despite fierce competition, this lauded wine has been the winner in the Pinot Noir category for the past five years.

The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley boutique winery, owned by the Tollman family and headed by founder Peter Finlayson and winemaker Chris Albrecht, was also placed in the 8th position overall this year as SA’s Fine Wine Producer.

In addition to the 100 score Platinum for the Galpin Peak Pinot Noir, Bouchard Finlayson received three other Platinum SAWi awards, scoring higher than 95 for its Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak Pinot Noir (98.40); the Hannibal red blend of Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Mourvèdre (placed in second place in the Red Blend category at 96.82); and its famed Crocodile’s Lair Chardonnay Kaaimansgat (95.44). Three of its other white wines also scored above 90: Bouchard Finlayson Walker Bay Missionvale Chardonnay (91.90); Blanc de Mer (Riesling and Viognier blend 90.88); and Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (90.84).

SAWi’s Grand Wines (GWC) promotes South African fine wines as a collective, and offers wine lovers the first ever South African cultivar ‘ranking’ list, and the most definitive measure of wine quality to date. It applies a rigorous methodology through its Algorithm of Excellence, ascribing a value to the various kinds of awards to level the playing field and in doing so, properly asses the quality status of every wine produced here. In the process the system con­denses the results of more than 100 judging panels using a rolling ten-year timeframe. Applying the Algorithm of Excellence to this vast set of data, stretching back a decade, patterns emerge that makes it easy to distinguish wines which are consistently accepted as exceptional. Importantly, it allows for the only definitive comparison of vinous like with like.