31 July 2007

Pinotage's Mystery and Adventure

Swati MylavarapuSwati Mylavarapu, travelling after finishing following a masters at Oxford last month, discovered Pinotage on her recent visit to South Africa. She writes in her Global Glutton blog:

“I found Pinotage to be an intriguing wine. Its taste varies considerably even between neighboring Stellenbosch estates. What I found to stay constant between vintages and estates, though, was a deep red wine with smoky and earthy flavors, mineral undertones, and sometimes notes of tropical fruits. Sound unusal? It was. Not quite as full bodied as a Shiraz, but not as heavy as a Cab Sauv.

I tried a Simonsig RedHill Pinotage (2004) there which definitely satisfied (although if I had a bottle I’d age it a bit longer).

But what I was really pleased with was a Pinotage (2005) I tried at Middlevlei estate. I didn’t find it as “big” as the Simonsig, but it was a nice, medium-bodied wine, not overpowering with its black berry flavors, with a nice hint of oak and smoke. Something to be had with a nice, spiced red meat dish (from the braai, perhaps?). And a few sips into the glass, there was something about the wine’s flavor that still played with my taste buds – exactly what I like in a glass of wine, a bit of mystery and adventure with an unfamiliar varietal!"



Read more about Sati's travels at http://globalgluttononline.blogspot.com/


Extracts quoted with permission

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous08:44

    Africa continues to be the top holiday destination in the world . Reasons heavy forest, good scenery and nice wild life.

    ReplyDelete