Peter Max - 2018 - Peter Allan Finlayson

100% Pinot Noir, from vines cultivated using sustainable pest management and planted in the Walker Bay area. Several parcels are included in this blend: it is a cuvée produced with purchased grapes of very high quality from vines Andrew Finlayson supervises year-round. Peter and Max were the two first names of the owners of the vines in the first vintage of this cuvée, and the name has been retained even though the suppliers have since changed. Vinification: 50% destemmed grapes, four weeks of maceration, gentle extraction, fermentation with indigenous yeasts, 11 months of maturation in barrels, neither fined nor filtered, and sparing use of sulphites.

Peter-Allan and Andrew Finlayson, co-founders of Crystallum Wines in the Walker Bay region of South Africa, today embody the third generation of winemakers in their family. Yet each had initially set their sights on altogether different careers, not wishing to try and fill the shoes of their father – a pioneer in introducing quality Pinot Noir to the Hemel-en-Aarde region. It was after their studies (in architecture for Andrew and philosophy for Peter-Allan) that the two brothers finally caught the family wine bug. And so the adventure began: in 2007, they founded Crystallum together. Andrew would take charge of viticulture and Peter-Allan would oversee vinification. In their first vintage they produced 4000 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc, and since then have focused on Burgundy grape varieties, creating cuvées that highlight their meticulous work in parcel selection.