Andries Burger did not, per chance, find Pinot noir. The grape found, enchanted and overwhelmed him. The first and only cellarmaster at Paul Clüver Family Wines in Elgin, who has been at the helm for 26 vintages this year, not only pioneered Pinot noir in the cool-climate Elgin appellation but has become one of the leading voices propagating the merits of South Africa’s Pinot noir sector through his array of singularly expressive wines made from arguably the world’s most revered red grape.
“Starting out at Paul Clüver I had not been exposed to Pinot noir, although as a student and young winemaker the variety was obviously on my radar, something you’d heard about and tasted, but had no plans to immerse yourself in,” says Andries. “As the variety is to many youngsters today, Pinot was then for me a voice in the distance. In the 1990s the Cape’s Pinot noir offering was limited, with only a few winemakers taking up the challenge of vinifying this regal grape of Burgundy or having access to grapes planted on suitable terroir. With sense of place and expression of site being the most important factor in Pinot noir, the latter was the major reason why the variety has taken a while to be established in the Cape.”
As luck would have it, Elgin had in the 1980s been identified as a region suitable for the cultivation of Pinot noir. Ernst le Roux, legendary South African viticulturist who worked for Stellenbosch Farmers Winery and Distell, initially mapped-out the soils, aspects and climate zones on the Paul Clüver family farm of De Rust. Along with Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, Le Roux’s scientific knowledge declared that as far as Elgin terroir went, Paul Clüver was in business with Pinot noir.