My Wine of The Month for November is Cloof 'Winemakers Reserve' Pinotage 2020.
On removing the cork the room was filled with a bouquet of plums, and red fruits. Unfortunately that initial generosity wasn't followed through on the tongue; the wine was enjoyable but seemed a bit closed. Does it need keeping longer or was the cork to blame?
My Wine of The Month of October is Laibach 2018.
had sold the winery in April 2022 and retired to Germany. Near neighbours Kanonkop Estate are the new owners and they immediately renamed the place Ladybird Vineyards
I thought that 2017 vintage would be the last Laibach I would have and I was a little disappointed with it. But I found this bottle in an independent wine shop a long way from my home and it's a cracker with deep juicy plummy flavours and underlying soft tannins.
With the sale in 2022 I may yet find more Laibachs. I look forward to them.
My Wine of The Month of September is Niel Joubert 'Patrysbult' Pinotage 2018.
This wine doesn't appear in Platter or Niel Joubert's web site which has an 2018 Estate Pinotage, but that is unwooded and only 13.03% abv while this is wooded . Maybe it's an export label, but it's not the most enjoyable Niel Joubert Pinotage I've had.
My Wine of The Month of August is Rijk's Pinotage Reserve 2016
It is a mature wine recently released; I bought it at Wine Village in Hermanus in March 2023.
It spent 22 months in 60% new French oak barrels and was made by the skilled Pierre Wahl. The Reserve is taken from the 20 best barrels.
While capable of great aging, this wine is drinking beautifully now, with intense black plum fruit flavours, and the oaking is not obvious. Simply delicious.
My Wine of The Month for July is Grangehurst Pinotage 2009. One might reasonably think I had aged this 14 year old wine in my cellar, but it's the current release and I bought it only this March, in Wine Village, Hermanus.
Jeremy Walker, winemaker and co-owner of Grangehurst doesn't like to market his wines until they are ready. And ready this was. A delicious mature wine, ripe with deep plummy notes, age softened tannins from 21 months in barrel and background spices.
Perfect, just perfect.
My Wine of The Month for June is Kaapzicht Estate Rooiland Pinotage 2020.
The retro label says it is 'a homage to classic Pinotage' which might put some people off. Their loss. This is a thoroughly modern wine, silky sleek and bursting with black fruit flavours. I am not sure I'd identify it as Pinotage in a blind tasting. It's full bodied, has a great depth of flavour, and - yes- there is that varietal sweetness.
It's name 'rooiland' refers to the red soil in which the unirrigated bush vines were planted in 1995 and 1997.
After fermentation and malo the wine was aged 16-18 months in 300L oak barrels and then concrete tanks till bottling.
It's a tremendous wine by any standard and I've ordered more.
My Wine of The Month for May is Beaumont 'Jackals River' 2018.
It is light in colour, smelling of raspberries. It is also unusually light for Pinotage at 13.5% abv. (The 2021 vintage is 13% abv.)
One of the things that first excited me about Pinotage was that it was made in many different styles. This is a light manifestation, red berries - raspberries and redcurrants - but I found an underlying taste that I couldn't identify.
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Learn more about my new book telling all about Pinotage and read sample pages at
A Year in Paarl
A I Perold's
A Treatise
on Viticulture
A I Perold (1880-1941) was South Africa's first Professor of Viticulture and Oenology. He dedicated himself to improving the quality of grapes for wine, brandy and the table. He studied wine and brandy production in Europe, imported more than 60 varieties to the Cape and bred new ones. Perold said this book “is intended to serve both the student and the practical grape-grower. There are in it technical passages that will appeal more to the student, e.g. the chapters dealing with the biology of the vine, its external and internal morphology, the theory of grafting. My remarks on the practice of viticulture, such as those dealing with the propagation, manuring and pruning of the vine, the production of table grapes for export, will, it is hoped, assist the practical grape-grower as well as the student.” This is a newly typeset reprint, not a photocopy. Text on the 712 pages have been aligned to match the original pagination so any external references to pages in the Treatise will be valid in this edition
Available in paperback and hardback editions. 712 pages
with
A I Perold
Dr Perolds report on his Paarl experiments 1915 - 1916 reprinted with glossary, introduction and brief biography. Fascinating historical document on viticulture for wine and table grapes, wine and brandy making.
