IT WAS AS recently as 2012 that British Master of Wine Richard Kershaw established his business in Elgin to make world-class Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinot Noir that would show a sense of place. Today he is widely acknowledged as one of the top producers in South Africa, one with an academic leaning, a bent for geography, and the labels communicate his scientific approach. Apart from the second-label Smuggler’s Boot range (R145 to R235pb) and the GPS series (R495pb) that explores sites outside the district, the Elgin offerings comprise a premium-priced ‘Clonal Selection’ (R520pb plus) and the more premium ‘Deconstructed’ range of ‘single site, soil and clone wines’ (R985pb plus).

Kershaw began his solo winemaking career as a Chardonnay and Shiraz specialist. His Chardonnay is now one of the Top 10 in the country. Pinot Noir was included in the Clonal Selection range from the 2015 vintage, and already it’s on track to becoming one of the category benchmarks. The 2016 Kershaw Pinot Noir achieved a 5 Star rating in Platter’s SA Wine Guide; the 2017 scored 93/100 on Winemag and was Highly Recommended in Platter’s before being chosen as one of the winners at the inaugural Mosaic Top 5 Pinot Noir Awards; while the just-released 2018 vintage was also Highly Recommended in Platter’s, going on to be included among the Top 10 in Winemag’s 2020 Pinot Noir Report.

He’s a judge on various panels and lectures for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. At home, however, he likes his privacy, does Richard Kershaw. Few have glimpsed the inside of his cellar; tastings are by appointment only, on weekdays only, at R220pp.

KERSHAW PINOT NOIR 2018
WO Elgin. Grapes comprise a combination of four French clones from 11 small parcels of land around the Elgin Valley. Hand-picking; small lug baskets; manual sorting on conveyer before removal of stems. Destemmed berries further sorted on vibrating table and jacks removed before dropping (uncrushed) into 500kg open-top fermenters. Natural/wild yeast. Gentle basket press. Malolactic fermentation in barrel. Maturation for 10 to 11 months in French oak, 100% Burgundian, 20% new: 74% in 228L barrels, 16% in 500L barrels, 10% in “breathable eggs”. Unfined, generally speaking, and lightly filtered (the wine is likely to drop a sediment over time in bottle). 8056 bottles, 33 magnums.
Alc 13.5 – further analysis not disclosed.
Winemaker’s Tasting Notes: floral attributes; freshness framed by fine powder tannins, yet cushioned by a succulent texture and flavours of black cherry, pomegranate, rose petal and raspberry.
R605pb ex-cellar.