Crystallum Wines
Brothers Peter-Allan and Andrew Finlayson are third-generation Cape winemakers, sons of Peter Finlayson, the founding cellarmaster at Hamilton Russell Vineyards who went on to co-found Bouchard Finlayson in 1989. Andrew trained as an architect and Peter-Allan studied philosophy and economics before both were drawn back into the family trade, Andrew to the vineyards and Peter-Allan to the cellar. They founded Crystallum in 2007 with just over four thousand bottles of Sauvignon Blanc; by the following vintage they had switched to the two Burgundian varieties that define the label today, and now produce close to 40,000 bottles a year of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay exclusively.
Crystallum sources most of its fruit from the cool, maritime Hemel-en-Aarde, supplemented by newer high-altitude finds in Elandskloof and Shaw's Mountain in the Overberg, where the brothers have recently begun buying land outright to secure supply. Widely regarded as leaders of South Africa's “New Wave” of cool-climate winemaking, Crystallum has built its reputation on low-intervention, native-yeast winemaking and a growing family of single-vineyard sites. In 2021, Tim Atkin MW named Peter-Allan South African Winemaker of the Year.
“We strive to find a balance between using old-world methods and traditions while keeping in tune with the vineyards we source our fruit from.”
Philosophy and Winemaking
“In the cellar, we nurture what comes off the vines rather than manipulating the fruit to fit a predetermined outcome.” Peter-Allan Finlayson,
Every wine is fermented with native yeast and hand-picked into small crates. The Pinot Noirs ferment in small stainless steel tanks with a variable share of whole clusters, anywhere from a quarter to all of the fruit depending on the site and vintage, before ageing 11 to 16 months in French oak, much of it neutral. The Chardonnays are whole-bunch pressed with no enzymes or commercial yeast, fermented in barrel and aged around 10 months, mostly in older wood and foudre to let the site speak over the toast. New oak has been steadily dialled back across the range in recent vintages in favour of purity of fruit.
The Hemel-en-Aarde's ancient soils, Bokkeveld shale, decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone laid down some 400 million years ago, and its cool, ocean-moderated climate give the Pinot Noirs their perfume and the Chardonnays their tension. As the brothers have expanded beyond the valley into Elandskloof's 700-metre slopes and their own Shaw's Mountain vineyard, that same restrained, site-first style has followed them.
The Range: Cool Climate, Old-World Restraint
The range runs to seven wines, four Pinot Noirs and three Chardonnays, from an easy-drinking multi-site blend of each variety through to two of the most sought-after single-vineyard bottlings in the Cape. All fruit is hand-picked, all fermentation is spontaneous, and the collection runs roughly 60% red to 40% white.
CHARDONNAY
Crystallum ‘The Agnes’ Chardonnay
Multi-vineyard blend, Hemel-en-Aarde and Overberg
Named for the brothers' great-grandmother Agnes Floyd, reputedly the first woman in Cape Town to hold a driver's licence, this is Crystallum's most accessible Chardonnay, blended from seven sites across Shaw's Mountain, the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, the Ceres Plateau and Piekenierskloof. Whole-cluster pressed and naturally fermented in French oak and foudre for nine months, it is clean and vital, with verbena, greengage and butterscotch closing on a tart, grapefruit-skin finish. Christian Eedes rated the 2024 vintage 91/100.
Crystallum ‘Ferrum’ Chardonnay
Single vineyard, Shaw's Mountain, Overberg
From the brothers' own vineyard on Shaw's Mountain, just outside the Hemel-en-Aarde proper, Ferrum is whole-bunch pressed with no enzymes and fermented spontaneously in barrel, 20% new. Green apple, white peach and lemongrass meet sea spray, bay leaf and a touch of ginger, with a taut, limey finish. Christian Eedes rated the 2024 vintage 96/100.
Crystallum ‘Clay Shales’ Chardonnay
Single vineyard, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge
Crystallum's flagship white, named for the Bokkeveld shale and clay soils of a high-altitude Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge site shadowed by mountain and cooled by the ocean. Whole-bunch pressed with nothing added and fermented in a single 2,600-litre foudre for ten months, it is often likened to a Grand Cru white Burgundy: quince, lychee and lemon rind giving way to lime curd and golden apple over taut, wet-stone acidity, built to age past 2035. Tim Atkin MW rated the 2024 vintage 96/100, with Christian Eedes at 95/100.
PINOT NOIR
Crystallum ‘Peter Max’ Pinot Noir
Multi-vineyard blend, Hemel-en-Aarde and Overberg
Named for the growers who supplied the fruit for the first vintage, this is Crystallum's earliest-drinking Pinot Noir, blended across seven sites to build something greater than any one vineyard alone. Naturally fermented with around half the fruit as whole clusters and macerated four weeks on skins, it is lively and red-fruited, with cranberry, pomegranate and Christmas spice giving way to blueberry, dark chocolate and a wet-stone finish. Platter's Guide rated the 2024 vintage 95/100 (5 stars), calling it a bestseller with real grip and structure.
Crystallum ‘Litigo’ Pinot Noir
Single vineyard, Shaw's Mountain, Overberg
Named for the legal term “discussion”, a nod to its origins in a partnership with lawyer Eben van Wyk, Litigo comes from the brothers' own Shaw's Mountain vineyard just outside the valley proper. Fermented with around a quarter whole clusters, it is dense and decadent, with damson, mulberry and black forest cake meeting dry, black-tea tannin and a lifted, spearminty freshness. Christian Eedes rated the 2024 vintage 96/100.
Crystallum ‘Mabalel’ Pinot Noir
Single vineyard, Kaaimansgat, Elandskloof
Named for an Eugene Marais poem about a chieftain's daughter ambushed by a crocodile at a Limpopo river crossing, Mabalel comes from a 700-metre site on “Kaaimansgat”, or Crocodile's Lair, ringed by peaks that turn snow-capped in winter. Fully destemmed and naturally fermented, it is the range's most ethereal Pinot: raspberry, wild strawberry and tomato leaf, juicy and saline on a linear, precise palate. Christian Eedes rated the 2024 vintage 93/100.
Crystallum ‘Cuvée Cinéma’ Pinot Noir
Single vineyard, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge
Named for a Napoleon film shot on the site the year before the vines went in, this is Crystallum's most celebrated Pinot Noir, a barrel selection from a 1.6-hectare block of high-density, disease-free Dijon clones planted in 2009. Around 60% ferments as whole clusters over four weeks on skins before 11 months in barrel, a quarter of it new. Rose, violet and blood orange peel lead into cranberry, black cherry and a saline, kelpy finish. Christian Eedes rated the 2024 vintage 96/100.
