Pinotage – from Reviled to Revered

Interesting article by industry expert Michael Fridjhon in the latest WINE magazine which starts "The turnaround on Pinotage – from reviled to revered – has been remarkably swift."

Fridjhon goes on to say that while Pinotage is a difficult grape from which to make wine "This is a little like blaming a fast car for handling badly. Brilliantly designed vehicles create the illusion that the driver knows what he’s doing, but there does come a point where the better driver does the better job."

The evidence for the turnaround is that " it garnered more gold medals this year at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show than any other category" and the "number of stellar-premium Pinotage-based wines" now on the market that have continued to sell at high prices each year, showing that "the wines are living up to their pretensions."

Fridjhon finishes by asking that its time for thevariety "to be accorded a degree of respect."

The article is currently online at www.winemag.co.za/article/a-long-road-2011-01-03
unforgiving variety