Recent Dinner Wines

Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2003
An inviting fresh raspberry nose, light bodied with high acid and a surprisingly puckering dry woody finish. I'd like more fruit in mid-palate. Essential with food because of the acids and tannins and rather old fashioned. Disappointing.

Sylvanvale Pinotage Reserve 1999
On my trips to the Cape I'd made several journeys up Devon Valley to call at the Devon Valley hotel, wander through the vineyards that surround it and try to
attract the bar staff to taste the wine made from them. But it took some years
before I managed to buy their Pinotage as it quickly sells out. Perhaps I was just
expecting too much, but I found this wine an average Pinotage, starting to fade
with not enough fruit or 'oomph' to excite.

Beyerskloof Pinotage 2002
Not the reserve, but the regular bottling gives lots of pleasure with a full meaty body, dark plummy flavours and perfectly balanced fruit and tannins. But Beyers labels should stop saying Pinotage is unique to South Africa; its neither true nor a good selling point.