My Wine of the Month for April is Fairview ‘Barrel Aged’ Pinotage 2022. The bottling is exclusive to Waitrose supermarkets and has been 'aged in seasoned barrels' which I suppose means they're been used before. Good, because one gets the benefits of aging in oak barrels without filling the mouth with oaky flavours.
The wine was bright, fruity and easily drinkable. Very nice.
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My Wine of The Month for July is Piekenierskloof Wines 'Stonedance' Cabernet-Pinotage 2024 (W.O. Piekenierskloof).
This is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Pinotage and, unusually, 10% Sangiovese for The Wine Society.
It's a very pleasant drinking wine, but I can't say I found it characterful. Beautifully poised, smooth and faultless, enjoyable but ultimately unexciting.
My Wine of The Month of June is Niel Joubert Pinotage Patrysbult 2022. It's a light bodied interpretation of the grape, translucent in the glass. Very drinkable, but I had it in a restaurant on one of the hottest days so far this year and it was too warm so I added a few ice cubes.
I understand the label is used on exports to add a little more provenance and background story.
I enjoyed it with a meal, but it would be very suitable for drinking on its own.
My Wine of The Month for May is Stellenrust Corner Stone Pinotage 2023, WO Stellenbosch.
It is fermented in open concrete tanks with manual punch down of the cap every two hours for another 4-5 days. The wine is then drained from the skins and further fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. After fermentation has been completed, it is matured in 100% French oak over a period of 12-14 months.
There's sweet berry fruits and about an hour after opening the wine really opened up and became smoothly supple. This wine no doubt has a long life, but why wait when it's lovely and so enjoyable now.
I visited the winery for a tasting in November last year and brought Corner Stone home with me.
“This is more than symbolic,” said Madame May, a Bordeaux-born grande dame of wine whose South African wine journey started at the age of 78. “Pinotage and I were both born in 1925 — it’s a beautiful story that our lives have crossed like this. I’ve always admired Pinotage for its complexity and character, and I’m deeply honoured to be part of this moment.”
Prof. Izak Perold created Pinotage in 1925. The 24-carat pure gold medallion, weighing one troy ounce (31.1 grams), was designed and sculpted by Natanya van Niekerk, award-winning numismatist and director of the private Cape Mint. It forms part of an edition limited to 300 gold medallions.
The medallion features Prof. Perold in relief and bears the parent grape varieties’ names, Pinot Noir & Hermitage (Cinsaut) on either side with Pinotage in the middle, Perold’s signature, and a laurel wreath of grapes, a symbol of South Africa’s rich wine heritage.
The tiny angel flying over a wine glass was inspired by a family story shared by Perold’s granddaughter about him calling exceptional wine “engeltjiepiepie”. Each medallion will be hand-finished with a touch of red enamel, symbolising wines “touched by an angel”.
Madame May struck this launch edition medallion using a hand press capable of applying 1.5 tons of pressure.
“I have always cherished medallions and am a collector myself,” she said, “but this is the first time I’ve seen how one is made — and to do it myself for a cause so close to my heart is unforgettable,” she said, while praising the exquisite design on the Pinotage medallion.
Beyers Truter, chairman of the Pinotage Association noted: “Pinotage should be registered as a South African asset — just like gold. This medallion not only marks the past but will also carry Pinotage’s story into the future. Both the wine and this medallion will increase in worth and meaning as time goes on.”
It was pale and would have benefitted from keeping a while longer because it seemed its acidity overwhelmed its fruits.
But it was much better with food where its mouth drying tannins made one want another glass. There were some floral notes, maybe violets, but one felt the declared14.5% abv.
If I had more, I'd keep them for a few more years to soften tannins and let the fruits out.
My Wine of The Month for March is Alvi's Drift '221' Pinotage 2022, WO Scherpenheuval.
It came about because I was wanting to buy a cook's apron. On Amazon the one I purchased had a series of pictures of the apron, and a video of it in action*.
*Link to video - https://amzn.eu/d/35QBtia
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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.
