Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is a black wine grape variety associated with some of the world’s most expensive still and sparkling wines. The name, derived from the French words that mean “pine” and “black”, refers to the compact conical shape of the grape bunches that resemble a pine cone and the dark colour of the berries. Pinot Noir is believed to be one of the oldest clones of the Pinot family. It is estimated that about 20 mutations of Pinot Noir exist, of which Pinot Gris and Pinot blanc are also cultivated in South Africa, albeit on small scale. Professor Abraham Izak Perold imported the Swiss BK5 Pinot Noir clone around the 1920s and Muratie in Stellenbosch became the first farm to plant the variety in 1927. The variety at the time struggled to take off in other areas than Stellenbosch, because of the strong focus on the production of wine volumes instead of wine quality. The quota system, introduced in the late-1950s, also prohibited production expansions. New Dijon clones, better suited for the production of fine table wines, became available in South Africa around the 1990s. Together with the shift to the production of quality wines, these new clones resulted in many new regions also producing the variety, including Robertson Wine Valley, Elgin, Doring Bay and Franschhoek. Professor Perold crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut to produce the truly South African variety, Pinotage.
Here some of our locally produced Pinot Noirs, Springfield Estate Pinot Noir, Van Loveren Pinot Noir, Robertson Winery Pinot Noir, Esona Pinot Noir, Windfall Pinot Noir, Exdiem Pinot Noir and many more.