Awards and recognition for Bouchard Finlayson

In the US, American wine bible Wine Spectator placed the 2012 vintage (Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2012) in its Top Wines list in the June 2016 issue, giving it a rating of 92 out of 100. Wine Spectator's senior editor and South Africa expert James Molesworth noted that the vintage “offers a toasty frame, with cedar, dried anise and cinnamon notes around steeped black cherry and blackberry coulis flavours”. The same issue also has Molesworth include the Bouchard Finlayson 2013 Hannibal in his article Recent Vintages From South Africa Showcase The Country's Diversity, in which he highlights and praises the rising quality and diversity of South African wines.

In the previous May 2016 issue, he awarded the 2013 Hannibal 90 points: “Velvety raspberry, blackberry and blueberry fruit is offset with a hint of graphite, picking up warm fruitcake and incense notes along the way. Toasty, but the fruit easily wins out. Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Mourvèdre, Shiraz and Barbera. Drink now through 2017.”

The 2013 Bouchard Finlayson Missionvale Chardonnay also received 90 points in the same issue: “Offers ripe pear, fig and yellow apple fruit, with racy edge. Hints of matchstick, honeysuckle and chamomile stretch out the lengthy finish. Drink now through 2017.”

And in the UK

The Wine Merchant in the UK meanwhile voted both the 2013 Galpin Peak Pinot Noir and 2014 Crocodile’s Lair Chardonnay into its The Wine Merchant Top 100 list, as published in the May 2016 issue. Now in its fourth year, The Wine Merchant Top 100 is the only competition for wines aimed exclusively at the UK’s independent wine merchants, judged by the merchants themselves. This year’s winners were chosen from a record field of more than 650 entries by a panel of 20 independent wine merchants, overseen by the competition director, David Williams of The Observer. Bouchard Finlayson’s Crocodile’s Lair was the only white South African wine selected for the list.

Back on home turf, the editor of www.topwinesa.com and manager of the SA Wine & Cellar Classifications, Mike Froud, showcased the Top 100 South African wines over the past 10 years, i.e. the 100 most highly rated SA wines across a spread of vintages between 2006 and 2015 – including Bouchard Finlayson’s Galpin Peak: “Ten years’ tasting results, the best track records, involving the top tasting panels, local and international – a pooling of expert opinions about South African wines as reviewed around the globe.”