The best Pinot Noir red wines in South Africa in 2021

Winemaker Johann Fourie and the Benguela Cove team are especially delighted at the announcement of the Mosaic Top 5 Pinot Noir Wine Award 2021 winners. 

The Five Best Pinot Noir wines in South Africa are: 

1. Benguela Cove Vinography Pinot Noir 2019 
2. Elgin Vintners Pinot Noir 2020 
3. La Vierge Wines La Vierge Noir 2017 
4. Richard Kershaw Wines The Smuggler's Boot Pinot Noir 2019 
5. The Brew Cru Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge Pinot Noir 2019

Best of Pinot Noir 

Convened by Top Five Trust in conjunction with the South African Pinot Noir Association, the Mosaic Top 5 Pinot Noir Wine Awards identify five wines to serve as a benchmark for the development of distinctive South African Pinot Noir red wines. One of the major objectives of the competition is to illustrate the distinctive quality of South African Pinot Noir to the consumer and the international wine community. 

Judging procedures were held on 3 August in Cape Town and saw 64 entries from 42 producers with wines from the 2013 to 2020 vintages inclusively. This exceeded our wildest expectations in this unusual year. The most entries were from the Walker Bay district (24), followed by Elgin (16), Stellenbosch (6) and the balance from Franschhoek, the larger Cape South Coast region, the Breede River Valley region, Ceres Plateau, and Durbanville.  

Benguela Cove’s Exceptional Pinot Noir Wine of Origin Walker Bay 

Pinot Noir is a demanding variety to cultivate and transform into wine, with a temperament that has earned the grape its ‘heartbreak grape’ moniker. Benguela Cove’s award-winning winemaker Johann Fourie rises to this challenge with flair, producing outstanding South African Pinot Noir that champions the distinctive Walker Bay terroir.  

90+ Award Medals 

Wines that score 90 or more points, but do not make it into the top five, are celebrated with a 90+ award medal.  

The 90+ South African Pinot Noir red wines are: 

• Benguela Cove Estate Pinot Noir 2020 
• Bosman Family Vineyards Magnum Opus Pinot Noir 2018 
• Bouchard Finlayson Tetê de Cuvée Pinot Noir 2019 
• De Grendel Wines Op die Berg Pinot Noir 2019 
• Ghost Corner Pinot Noir 2019 
• Iona Vineyards Elgin Highlands Pinot Noir 2018 
• Lothian Vineyards Pinot Noir Vineyard Selection 2019 
• Lothian Vineyards Pinot Noir Vineyard Selection 2020 
• Ntida Pinot Noir 2020 
• Paul Cluver Wines Estate Pinot Noir 2020 
• The Brew Cru Pinot Noir 2020