02 November 2006

Tell me about Pinotage

That's the question posed by a reader of the Monterey Herald. The answer, from George Edwards (owner and operator of WineMarket wine store) is:

"This is a red wine associated almost exclusively with South Africa, where, in 1925, Cinsault, a simple red grape of the Rhone Valley of France, was crossed with Pinot Noir to create Pinotage. Generally speaking, it is a rather simple and rustic red but I have also sampled wines that show more of the Pinot round texture and, in fact, my first experience back in the early 1990s was with Kanonkop, which paired up pretty well with swordfish, of all things.

More recently I found enough textural finesse in the Golden Kahn bottling, which got along just fine with pork. I've probably been exposed to less than a dozen takes on Pinotage but clearly my favorite to date, one that delivers more depth and flesh and makes a delicious blueberry and sweet oak statement, is the Simonsig Stellenbosch Red Hill 2003 ($28)."

I'd agree with him on Simonsig Redhill, and also Pinotage matching well with swordfish. I recall myself how well Wamakersvallei 'La Cave' worked with fish in Stellenbosch's Fish Market restaurant.

As for Golden Kaan -- this is a succesful brand co-owned by KWV and a German company designed for the German market. And I have to say that I don't recall if I have ever tasted it :)

Read George's full article here .

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