Pinotage Wine Guide Launched

A spiffy new Guide to South African Pinotage was published on Friday by the producer’s Pinotage Association. The event took place in Wellington at Diemersfontein Winery, the home of the original coffee’n’chocolate style Pinotage.

The main part of the 156 page full colour pocket sized Guide is a listing of wineries producing Pinotage and Pinotage blends with descriptions of their wines and wine land maps to guide visitors.

The book also covers Pinotage history and food and wine matching with several Pinotage recipes including Pinotage ice cream and Beyerskloof’s signature Pinotage burger.

The subtitle 1995-2011 refers to the year the Association was formed till the most recent Top 10 Competition. The book lists the most successful wineries in the 15 years of the competition, which commenced in 1997.

The Top 10 producers, as classified by winning entries in the competition are, in alphabetical order:

Beyerskloof
DeWaal Wines
Kanonkop Estate
L’Avenir Vineyards
Rijk’s Private Cellar
Simonsig Estate
Spier
Stellenzicht Vineyards
Wellington Wines
Windmeul Cellar

And the winemakers with the most wins, in order of wins, are:

Beyers Truter, of Beyerskloof (and previously Kanonkop Estate)
Danie Steytler Snr, of Kaapzicht Estate
Daniel de Waal, of Super Single Vineyards (and previously DeWaal/Uiterwyk)
Francois Naudé, of Chateau Naudé (and previously L’Avenir Vineyards)
Guy Webber, of Stellenzicht Vineyards
Pierre Wahl, of Rijk’s Private Cellar

Association Chairman Beyers Truter said that better Pinotage was being made now than ever before, with sales of bottled Pinotage increasing 11% year on year in South Africa and annual exports from 5.5million to 9.5 million bottles in the five years to 2008.

Beyers Truter also announced a further five years of sponsorship by ABSA Bank worth ‘a few millions’, although he declined to name the exact figure.

Beyers said that when the Top 10 competition started Pinotage makers were dreaming in black and white. Since then much has been learned about growing and making good Pinotage and their dreams are in colour, and over the next five years they will be dreaming in 3D. The future is a “full bodied, balanced Pinotage with an accessible alcohol level.”

We finished outside together with the farm workers standing around bins of freshly gathered Pinotage grapes for the ceremony of blessing the harvest.


Photograph: Winemaker Francois Roode (left) with Diemersfontein owner David Sonnenberg blessing the harvest

Beyers Truter launches FAITH Cape Blend

There is no doubt Beyers Truter is the King of Pinotage, but he is also a master of Bordeaux varieties, gaining much kudos for them when at Kanonkop and subsequently for his Beyerskloof ‘field blend’ of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

So when he melds Pinotage, Cabernet and Merlot together you know you’re going to get something special as his Synergy Cape Blends have shown.

But now comes Faith, a blend of 30% each of Cab and Merlot with 20% each of Pinotage and Shiraz. You’ll have already noted the FAITH logo on the back labels of Beyerskloof wines. FAITH is a charity set up by Truter to aid those affected by Foetal Alcohol syndrome.

The new Faith blend will directly help the charity. But it also denotes Truter’s faith in the terroir of his vineyards which is not only reflected in the wine but gravel from those vineyards is incorporated in the raised surface of the word Faith on the front label. (pictured below)

And what of the wine inside? It has just been bottled but is surprisingly approachable for a wine meant to be aged. It has an incredible red purple colour with a sweet lavender nose and it is soft on the palate; very soft and sweet. I thought it was a tremendous wine.

Only ten barrels were made and it is expected to sell at around 750R a bottle. Expensive yes, but every purchase helps the FAITH charity.

Beyers Truter is pictured above pouring tastes of Faith to diners in his restaurant.

Five Decades of Pinotage

Beyers Truter, Chairman of the producers Pinotage Association and owner of Beyerskloof Winery, invited a group including winemakers and journalists to his beach side house in Vermont, near Hermanus, this week for a tasting of Pinotages covering five decades from the 1960’s to now. Among those present were Pinotage winemakers Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop Estate), Etienne Louw (Altydgedacht Estate), Hannes Storme (Ashbourne, Southern Right), DeWet Viljoen (Neethlingshof Estate) and writers Christian Eeedes, Emile Joubert, Fiona McDonald, Neil Pendock and myself.

There were five flights of wines, one for each decade, starting with the 1960s. The first varietal Pinotage that was commercially available was the 1959 vintage released under Stellenbosch Farmers Winery’s Lanzerac brand.

The tasting was chaired by Pinotage Association Executive Committee member Duimpie Bayley CWM



Abrie Beeslaar pours Lanzerac 1963 for Beyers Truter and DeWet Viljoen shares a joke with Fiona McDonald while pouring the Lanzerac 1969

Lanzerac 1963

Clear brilliant brick colour but not looking as old as its years. The wine has been decanted so there hardly any sediment in the glass.

The nose is of a mature long aged wine and reminiscent of toffee.

First impression on tasting is of a thin wine, soft with cough drop and savoury flavours -- Neil Pendock thought "umami" -- and high acidity. It has a surprisingly long finish.

Lanzerac 1969

Deep red core, bricking at edges and some fine grainy black sediment – though I had a pour from the last of the bottle.

Lavender fruit on nose.

More fruit on this wine, red currants and berries, lick of cedar and again high acidity.

The wine is sweet and drinkable with fruits though thinning.

This flight was a real surprise. Two wines made more than forty years ago from young vines of a new variety, and made for immediate drinking have shown an amazing staying power. Duimpie Bayley says they have been stored in optimum conditions -- around 16 degrees -- in an underground cellar. The corks were in good condition.

Duimpie says they used to harvest between 22-24 brix so the finished wine would be about 12-13% abv and “they had a formula, or recipe, in that they’d regularly add a pound (456 grammes) of tartaric acid to a leaguer (575 litres) of juice. In those days no fining was done, they’d age in large 1,000 and 4,000 litre wooden barrels.

Duimpie worked at Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW), who owned the Lanzerac brand and introduced Pinotage to the market. The first Pinotage was in a claret shaped bottle but from the 1960 vintage they used a bowling pin shaped bottle for the range as it was new and fashionable though not without its problems.

“Bowling pins are designed to fall when knocked and then to tip over neighbouring pins,” said Duimpie, “and when running the bottling line with these bottles when one tipped it brought them all down. There was a lot of down time and staff were always having to be righting fallen bottles.”

The labels were pink because it was the favourite colour of SFW's chairman and pink was used to brand SFW, even to painting their delivery trucks what Duimpie called 'nipple pink'. The package was used until well into the seventies.

Second flight was from the Seventies.

Swartland Winery 1971

Golden red colour with lots of fine gritty sediment.

Sweet berry nose

Sweet berry fruit on palate, good body and a spicy long finish with some acids coming through at the end.

Very drinkable and enjoyable wine with long long aftertaste, though food is needed to alleviate acids at very end.

The wine was made at the Swartland Co-operative in Malmesbury but Gevul en Verouder (bottled and matured) by KWV in Paarl

Zonnebloem 1974

Premium brand for SFW, the grapes coming from Kanonkop and Bellevue.

Attractive red-gold colour, but acrid and acidic at first taste. There are some fruit and herb notes there, but too acidic and sour for me to enjoy.

Meerendal 1976

Meerendal was one of the pioneering Pinotage vineyards and I was looking forward to this wine which had a dark dense black red colour. However a stinky VA (volatile acidity) nose and an unpleasant sour taste showed this wine was spoilt and not drinkable

Stellenryk 1976

Pale, pinking at rim. An aged smell of sweet soft toffee. Restrained, not getting much flavour, some noticeable alcohol and stone developing at end.

Simonsig Estate 1978

Pale browning red colour with a shy, porty nose. Perky up-front fruit acids with caramel and a dusty wood tannin finish. A restrained wine whose fruit had declined.

Some tasters thought they detected Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine, but this was the only label which proclaimed it was "100% Pinotage", a statement that got Simonsig in trouble with the authorities at the time because of the implication that others were not. And indeed, the rules did not then, and still do not, require that a varietal contains nothing but the variety named on its label.

Zonnebloem 1984

Medium dark red, brown pink rim and a cheesy nose. Medium body with sweet thinning cherry and red plum fruits and a floral end that become attractively spicy on a very long finish.

Zonnebloem 1988

Red, brick rim, thin sweet nose, some grippy tannins and fresh fleshy fruits. Nice wine.

Kanonkop Estate CWG 1994

A barrel selection bottling for the Cape Winemakers Guild auction.

Purple dense opaque core, subdued nose, restrained and elegent.

Lavenir Estate CWG 1997

A barrel selection bottling for the Cape Winemakers Guild auction.

Deep red paleing at edge. Cherries on the nose, dense closed fruit at first opening out into ripe cherry flavours, lively acids and soft tannins, a very nicely balanced wine.

Kanonkop Estate 1999

Young purple colour, soft warm nose, generous rich sweet fruits of forest favours. It has a spicy almost Christmas cake richness.

I remember when this wine was first released thinking how soft and approachable it was, unusual in Kanonkop whose wines then needed some years in bottle to be approachable, and I though this was a slight wine that wouldn’t last and I didn’t buy any. I was so wrong. I’ve tasted this twice wine over the past couple of years and it is delicious.

Beyers recalled it had 18 months in 80% new oak, 20% second fill.

Kaapzicht Estate ‘Steytler’ 2001

Dense black with red rim that stains the glass, lively expressive fruits, spiciness and soft old leather, Delightful wine. 15%abv

Simonsig ‘Redhill’ 2003

Opaque purple black with sweet candy nose. Beautiful silky mouthfeel with flavours of black cherries and succulent plums. A rich opulent wine with dense fruit balanced by harmonious acids and tannins. This is a stunner, and my favourite drinking wine of the tasting, just ahead of the 1999 Kanonkop.

Beyerskloof ‘Diesel’ 2006

Bright cherry red colour. Tasting very young in the line-up, the “fruit and oak are still finding themselves” as Abrie Beeslaw, sitting next to me, put it. I think this wine suffers in comparison following the Simonsig and with some grippy tannins from its 21 months in new oak it is a work in progress needing more time.

5 Platter Stars for Beyerskloof's Diesel

Earlier than usual the Platter team have announced the wines awarded five stars in the forthcoming 2010 Platter Guide, due for publication end of November.

Beyerskloof's Diesel Pinotage 2007 is the sole varietal representative in the list.

The Platter Guide annually tastes and rates more than 6,000 South African awarding from zero to a maximum of 5 stars. Very few wines achieve the highest score which indicates a wine the tasters agreed was 'superlative, a Cape classic'.

For the 2010 Guide there just 43 five-star wines, which includes 7 fortified and dessert wines.

Congratulations to Beyers Truter (pictured right) and his team at Beyerskloof. The first vintage of this barrel selection wine, named after Beyers' recently deceased and much missed dog, the 2006 vintage was a Pinotage Top 10 winner last year.

The full list of five star wines:

White Wine of the Year

Sadie Family Palladius 2008
Red Wine of the Year

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005
Sauvignon blanc

Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc Unfiltered 2009

Lomond Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Woolworths Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Limited Release 2009

Cape Point Vineyards CWG Auction Reserve Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2008
White blends - Bordeaux style

Woolworths Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Reserve 2009

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2008

The Berrio Wines The Weathergirl 2008

Vergelegen White 2008
Chenin blanc

Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc 2008
White blends

Nederburg Ingenuity White 2008

Rall 2008

Sadie Family Palladius 2008

Woolworths Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards Spectrum White Limited Release 2008
Chardonnay

Ataraxia Chardonnay 2008

Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2008

Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2008
Pinot noir

Newton Johnson Domaine Pinot Noir 2008

Catherine Marshall Pinot Noir 2008
Grenache

Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Grenache 2007
Pinotage

Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2007
Red blends

Sadie Family Columella 2007

Spier Frans K. Smit 2005
Shiraz

Dunstone Shiraz 2008

Haskell Vineyards Pillars Shiraz 2007

Rustenberg Stellenbosch Syrah 2007

Saxenburg Shiraz Select Limited Release 2005
Red blends - Bordeaux style

De Trafford CWG Auction Reserve Perspective 2006

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2006

Morgenster Estate Morgenster 2006

Stony Brook Ghost Gum 2006

Woolworths Jordan Cobblers Hill Classic 2005
Cabernet Sauvignon

Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005
Port

Boplaas Vintage Reserve Port 2007

De Krans Cape Tawny Port NV

Boplaas Family Vineyards Cape Tawny Port 1997
Unfortified dessert wine

Buitenverwachting 1769 2007

Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2008

Nederburg Winemaster's Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2008

Mullineux Family Straw Wine 2008

Congrats to all..

.

Kanonkop & Beyerskloof makePremium Pinotages

The best Pinotages are going to get less good in order for the cream of the crop to be bottled separately as 'super-cuvees' at super-expensive prices.

Currently Kanonkop Pinotage costs around 18 pounds in the UK or 170 R from the winery, Beyerskloof’s top Pinotage is their black label Reserve at 8 – 11 pounds in the UK or around 100 R at the winery.

But they won’t be the best wines for much longer. Kanonkop and Beyerskloof both intend bringing out premium ‘super-cuvees’. I guess they’ve been spurred on by seeing newcomers like Ashbourne (24 pounds), Laroche’s L’Avenir Grand Vin (a stonking 27 pounds) and Francois Naudé’s own label (400 R) come on the market.

But if you’re already making the best Pinotage how do you encourage the punters to pay more? Seems like barrel selection is the answer. Identify a special barrel and – instead of using it to improve the rest – bottle it separately and price it accordingly.

Beyerskloof got two wines into the 2008 Pinotage Top 10; the Reserve and a new label called Diesel. Diesel, named after owner Beyers Truter’s recently deceased favourite hound, was a barrel selection. It was placed in a standard bottle and the normal black ‘Reserve’ label was tweaked with Diesel replacing the word Reserve.

Diesel will be the name of Beyeskloof’s new flagship Pinotage. It will have a new label and a heavily impressive new bottle. And will cost as much as three times the price of the Reserve, according to June’s issue of The Drinks Business. Retailing it at around 30 pounds brings it into line with L’Avenir Grand Vin.

But what about the Reserve? What about the standard Kanonkop? I reported back in April 2007 Kanonkop owner Johann Krige’s reaction to a question about whether they’ll be a ‘Reserve’ Kanonkop. Johann stepped in to answer vehemently that there never will be. “Kanonkop wines are the best we make,” he stated. “We only make the best. We don’t make second best wines.” But the experimental wines they have made at Kanonkop from 50 year old plus vines are “mind-boggling” according to Johann.

So does releasing a limited bottling of a special barrel selection automatically mean the standard label is not the best? It’s a moot question which they are tussling with at Kanonkop, as Johann admits in the video below taken at last months London wine fair. He wants to expose the wine to imbibers – maybe these wines will not be sold but poured at tastings



I’m torn. Pinotage is a great wine, so you would expect there to be premium priced bottles and people willing to pay the money. Problem is that I’m not one of them. Much as I like to drink the very best Pinotages, thirty quid a bottle is a bit too much for my pension. And I’m not sure how I feel about the concept of wines whose prices are yanked sky high even although they cost no more to make just in order to have a prestige premium priced wine.

As always the market will decide.

Beyerskloof wins IWSC Trophy

I've written before about the Beyers Truter Reserve own label made for UK supermarket Tesco. I have bought a goodly number of them myself, and by co-incidence opened a bottle of the 2006 last night.

I'm not the only fan though --- the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2008 recently announced that they'd awarded the KWV Trophy for Pinotage to Beyerskloof for their Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage 2006.

7000 wines from more than 70 countries were entered into the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2008, the premier competition of its kind in the world, held in London . Amongst the Trophies being announced 15 were open to wines from anywhere in the world. South Africa picked up five trophies and it is remarkable that four of the trophies were won by producers that come from within a radius of ten kilometres. The other three, some from wineries that have appeared on these pages for their Pinotages, are The Mission Hill Family Estate Trophy for Chardonnay presented to Delheim Wines for their Delheim Chardonnay Sur Lie 2007.The Spier Trophy for Merlot presented to Hartenberg for their Hartenberg Merlot 2005. The Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for Blended Red Wine presented to Kanonkop Wine Estate for their Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2003.

Pictured left to right are Beyers Truter (Beyerskloof), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop), Brenda van Niekerk (Delheim) and Carl Schultz (Hartenberg).

Worth Winning - World Cup Pinotage

The Pinotage Association has asked FIFA to designate Pinotage as the official wine for the 2010 Football World Cup, which will take place in South Africa in June and July 2010. This is the first time the World Cup has been held in Africa.

Cobus Dowry, Minister of Agriculture for Western Cape, came out in strong support and has undertaken to present the request to the World Cup Committee. "The Department of Agriculture Western Cape wholeheartedly supports the initiative and agrees that 2010 Soccer World Cup is the ideal opportunity to present a truly unique South African wine. Pinotage wine at the official functions during the World Cup celebrations will assist to strengthen the image and value of Pinotage," he said.

Beyers Truter, Pinotage Association Chairman, said that South Africa has practical and patriotic reasons for promoting Pinotage as a grape variety that provides wines of superior quality. He said "If the request is accepted, we will donate a sufficient quantity of wood-matured Pinotage wine for official functions and for participants and winners of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We do not want to become involved in the commercial opportunities, as there are enough cellars and other instances that are structured to do this."

The 2010 World Cup Pinotage wines will be selected by a panel of experts and will be bottled under a generic Pinotage label..

Although Pinotage grapes became part of the SA national vineyards at a much later stage than the classic European red wine cultivars, it produces nearly 15% of the total tonnage of red wine grapes harvested in South Africa. The international demand for Pinotage wines is thus clearly illustrated by the fact that it comprises about 11% of all these natural wines exported from South Africa.

The Pinotage Association also requested South African Airways to name one of their aeroplanes ‘Pinotage’ on the route between London and Cape Town in order to increase the awareness of the variety.

From left:-
Beyers Truter (Pinotage Association Chairman), Minister Cobus Dowry, Gert Boerssen (Pinotage Association Board Member).

Truter wows London's Restaurant Show

Pinotage guru Beyers Truter flew into London on Tuesday 9 October to present a packed Pinotage master class at the Restaurant Show.

He gave a brief history of the variety and admitted that it had suffered in the past from technical faults, including being over-oaked and over-alcoholised.

Beyer's opinion is that the correct Pinotage style is 'classic-balance', and noted that it would age in bottle for many years, and he was currently enjoying wines from 1972 and 1974 that have excellent balance.

He remarked on the versatility of the variety, including its suitability to make 'Port' because of the high alcohol levels it can achieve, and how rosé wines benefit from Pinotage's up-front fruit flavours. Beyers suggesting drinking his Beyerskloof rosé at 12° C with oysters and he said he preferred drinking it after aging for 2-3 years.

Unfortunately time ran out too soon. Beyers had been told he had an hour long slot, but in fact it was only 40 minutes as the hall had to be cleared and prepared for the next presentation. But maybe it was for the best since Beyers was getting very enthusiastic by now; getting rounds of applause and gales of laughter in response to his quips and stories and promising to bring a chef and musicians the next time so we could taste Pinotages suitability with a range of foods and he’d get us to sing the Pinotage song he’d written. And you know, by now the normally reticent audience of British restaurateurs would all have joined in

Ten wines were poured for tasting, they were

Beyerskloof Rose 2007
Beyerskloof Reserve 2002
Kanonkop 2003
Clos Malverne Reserve 2003
Laibach 2005
Simonsig Red Hill 2005
Stellenzicht Golden Triangle 2005
Fairview 2006
Nitida 2006
Zavenwacht 2005

Wine Blogging Wednesday - Rijk's 2001 & Beyerskloof 2006

Wine Blogging Wednesday is a web institution in which people around the world blog on a theme. For the 37th WBW on 12 September, which is hosted by Dr Vino, the subject is “go native” with an indigenous grape variety.

Pinotage -- pronounced 'pinno-targe' -- is the local red variety of South Africa, having been developed there eighty years ago. It is a variety used to make wines in all styles, including sparkling, pink and fortified. But the best expression of the variety is in serious red wines. Since Pinotage is a fairly recent variety, and because there is no old world model to measure it against, wine makers have been interpreting the variety in several styles.

My take is that Pinotage’s taste profile should be found within the oenological region bounded by the southern Rhone, northern Italian red and Californian Zinfandel. There should be the rich spicinessof Zin and warm depth of Syrah with a twist of the gamey kick of Italian reds. Plus, a lush sweet mouthfeel that is uniquely Pinotage.

For WBW I am tasting two Pinotages. First is a mature wine from the 2001 vintage. This vintage is sold out now at the winery but you may still find it in a specialist shop. The second you should be able to find inexpensively almost anywhere.

Rijk's Pinotage 2001

The nose is closed, not offering much at all, and it feels quite firm on the front palate. But first impressions are deceptive because this wine soon opens in the glass to offer yummy blackberry fruit with a pleasing sweet uplift on the finish. There’s some acidity also, and integrated oak (40% new French oak barrels) is working its creamy magic behind the scenes. It has 14.5% abv but feels light and refreshing, making it an ideal food wine.

Rijk’s – pronounced ‘rakes’ – was created by the Dorrington family in the Tulbagh valley and named in honour of Rijk Tulbagh, governor of the Cape from 1751 to 1771, who gave his name to the town and valley. Rijk’s wines achieved almost instant success from their first bottling in 2000. Their very first Pinotage won Top 10 in 2001 and this Pinotage, from the 2001 vintage was a Top 10 winner in 2004.

Although it’s a bit of a drive from Cape Town, I like to visit Rijk’s to enjoy lunch in their open air restaurant shaded under vine leaves and overlooking a lake and vineyards. And, as usual in the Cape, I have a glass or two of cold Chenin Blanc with my food. Rijk’s make stunning Chenins which are not to be missed.

Although vines have been grown in Tulbagh for generations, the land bought by Neville Dorrington had never previously been cultivated. The Norringtons started planting vines in 1997 and three years later, when the winery had been built, they produced their first wines and now make about 11,000 cases annually from a variety of cultivars.

Details
Producer: Rijks Private Cellar
Winemaker: Charl du Plessis
Variety: 100% Pinotage
Appellation: Coastal
Alcohol:14.5%
Cost: around 18GBP/36 USD




Beyerskloof Pinotage 2006

Beyerskloof winery specialises in Pinotage - the red leaf label is the world's largest selling Pinotage brand - which is no surprise as its winemaking owner, Beyers Truter, championed the variety and is known as the Pinotage King.

Although made in huge quantities -- 1.5 million bottles of the 2006 were produced -- quality is maintained and all the grapes are grown only in the premium Stellenbosch region of South Africa.

I chilled this wine by putting it in the fridge for half an hour before opening -- which is how they serve it at Beyerskloof. On opening there is an strong fruity bouquet as if the wine can't wait to get into the glass. Well, let's pour it. It has a deep black core with a bright purple red rim, and a powerful fruity taste. This is a gutsy wine -- I often have it to accompany spicy Indian food with which it matches well.


There's black fruits, cherry and plums, some blackcurrant leaf and a lick of leather on the back palate. Somewhere I'm also getting black olive tapenade. This wine is so yummy I keep drinking for the sheer pleasure rather than analyzing. No matter, lets pour another glass. What do you mean 'the bottle is empty'?

Owner winemaker Beyers Truter is a man with boundless energy. Now a young 50 year old, he was a rugby-player in his youth before being appointed winemaker at Kanonkop Estate where he championed and elevated the Pinotage variety, along the way being named International Winemaker of the year at the 1991 Wine & Spirit Competition held in London. He is the only winemaker ever to twice receive the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de la Lalande trophy for the best blended red wine at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. That was in 1994 and 1999.

He founded his own Beyerskloof winery in 1998 on a property owned until 1895 by five generations of ancestors and so he became the sixth generation to farm this particular land.

Beyers Truter is active in the Church and in politics (he has stood for the ANC and founded a farmers political party) and his latest venture is the ‘Faith Fund’ charity focusing on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. This year at Beyerskloof he extended the cellars and opened the instantly popular ‘Red Leaf’ restaurant featuring dishes cooked in and with Pinotage -- my favourite being the Pinotage Burger.




Details
Producer: Beyerskloof
Winemaker: Beyers Truter
Variety: 100% Pinotage
Appellation: Stellenbosch
Alcohol:14%
Cost: 5 GBP/10 USD/35ZAR

Truter's Finest Pinotage is a steal

"Four wines that I consider steals are ....... the rich, perfumed, blackberry and liquorice-like 2005 Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage, Stellenbosch (£7.99)

These wines are nothing like as famous as Dom Pérignon, Ernie Els or Biondi-Santi. Nor would they claim to be as ambitious. But in their own understated way, they represent something that is far more to my taste: good, honest winemaking at a fair price."

Tim Atkin in The Observer Magazine 22/07/07 - full article here

(Tim's other three wine steals are Sainsbury's Manzanilla Pale Dry Sherry, 2003 Umberto Fiore Barbaresco & 2006 Anakena Single Vineyard Viognier, Rapel Valley. )

Pinotage's 5 Million Rand Sponsorship

Absa bank yesterday (21/07/07) signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth one million rand per year with the Pinotage Association.

Dr Steve Booysen, Absa’s Group Chief Executive, said “I am extremely proud of what Absa has achieved in helping the Pinotage Association to development the Pinotage brand. With this agreement, we’ve committed to apply the bank’s considerable resources to firmly establish Pinotage in the local and international market. It is particularly important to us that all South Africans are made aware of the fact that this is our very own unique cultivar.”

This deal renews Absa’s decade long relationship with the Pinotage Association, which includes sponsorship of the annual Pinotage Top 10 competition. Pinotage Association Chairman Beyers Truter said “If it had not been for Absa, we would still have been in the experimental phases with Pinotage.”

Absa Bank and the Pinotage Association intend an ambitious promotional and media drive to capitalise on the success of the past and to take the brand to the next level. Several programmes will be rolled out, working toward positioning Pinotage for 2010. These will include a project with Absa Art later this year and a Food and Wine programme in 2008.


Picture: Dr Steve Booysen (left) and Beyers Truter celebrating with a glass of sparkling pink Pinotage.

Pinotage really delivers!

"Anyone who is unconvinced as to the merits of Pinotage should get stuck into this. Rich, characterful fruit with a fine tannic structure, this well-priced Pinotage really delivers. Spicy, fruity, and very moreish, it makes you wonder why you ever doubted he variety in the first place. Absolutely no bubblegum notes - guaranteed."

2005 Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage - as reviewed in Harpers, the UK trade weekly on 22/6)

See also here

Pinotage to the Rescue

Pinotage not only takes a major part in turning around the recent decline in South African wine sales in the UK, but also plays a vital role in rescuing a marriage.

Exports of Pinotage wines from South Africa to the UK are up by 46% in the period January -April 2007 compared with the same period last year. South Africa wine exports overall increased by 8%, reversing a previous decline. While the major SA brand in the UK (Kumala) still suffers falling sales, the second (Namaqua) and third (First Cape) largest brands are doing well, with First Cape - who market a varietal Pinotage - seeing a 114% increase in sales. And no doubt the recent promotions on Stormhoek and Beyerskloof have also helped. (Information from Harpers )

Meanwhile an anonymous blogger is having problems with her husband who she is "beginning to suspect may be on the verge of a mid-life crisis. "

She writes "Our finances preclude the purchase of that typical symbol of mid-life crisis - a ‘male meno-Porsche’ so instead he has bought a pair of in-line skates.

To be fair, as well as being an all round Boy Scout, H has always been a good skater – a sort of Ray Mears on wheels. He used to rollerblade to work when he was young and carefree, and was therefore a frequent recipient of abuse from motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

However this weekend, he returned from a skating trip with more of a glow than usual. Apparently, a car full of teenage girls had beeped their car horn and waved at him as he skated along. All fairly innocent, you might think, but no - he has been down at the gym this morning, clearly convinced that his body is now a temple at which young women will come and worship. Bless!

More worryingly, he has declared his intention to abstain from drinking wine. Surely such self-delusion has its limits? Clearly some action needs to be taken to avoid irreparable damage to our marriage. Therefore, in an attempt to lure him once again with my oenophile charms, I have uncorked a Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage (£7.99). I am certain that the spicy blackberry flavour will convince him of the error of his ways. How could he fail to realise that a lithe limbed lovely offering him a swig of her alcopop cannot compare with the delights of drinking decent red wine? Even if it does mean sharing it with a woman whose teeth are gradually turning blue."

Pinotage Jam and Scones

Scones are a Sunday treat here at Pinotage Towers. And what better topping than Pinotage jam?

I find it strange that grape jam is not more common. I am not aware of any being available in the UK. In South Africa you can buy Hanepoot jam, made from those large golden intensely sweet Muscat grapes used for making dessert wines.

Ripe Pinotage grapes are also quite sweet, and this jam comes from Beyerskloof Winery. Owner Beyers Truter has been incorporating Pinotage in many foods, sausages, ice-cream, yoghurts, meat sauces etc. See Red Leaf and Green Pinotage.

So, what is it like? On opening it has a lumpy texture from the berries and a dark, browny black colour which doesn't look too appetising. The nose is not sweet like other jams -- ahh I get it! Some wines we call 'jammy', and this jam is definitely 'winey'.

Spread on the opened scone -- broken open where the side of the rising scone has fractured -- take a quick photo (see picture right) and take a bite. Umm, tastes good. There is a winery grapiness, it is not overly sweet. Definitely an adult jam, and I am thinking that it maybe good as an accompanient to savoury dishes, such as bobotie or with turkey instead of red-currant sauce.

Unfortunately Pinotage jam is currently available only from the winery, but scones are easy and quick to make.

My scone recipe takes about 20 minutes to make and 20-25 minutes to cook

Ingredients

225g/8oz self raising flour
Pinch of salt
55g/2oz butter
Handful of sultanas
150ml/5fl oz milk



Method
1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Mix together the flour and salt and rub in the butter to get a bread crumb-like texture.
3. Sprinkle in the sultanas and stir them through, there should be plenty so add more if you want as they are the only sweetening* in the scones.
4. Mix in milk to get a soft dough
5. Turn on to a floured board and knead for a few minutes
6. Gently roll out to 2.5cm/1in thick – making them too thin is the biggest cause of disappointment.
7. Use a 5cm/2in cutter to stamp out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Knead remaining dough, roll out and stamp out more scones till all used. Cutting the edges helps the dough rise.
8. . Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and top is firm.
9. Place on a wire rack and serve with butter and good jam and cream to taste.

Eat while hot. They also freeze well; defrost before use and warm

*With the sultanas and sweet jam topping I think it is totally unnecessary to also add sugar to the scone

(Note: Scone is pronounced skoan (to rhyme with loan) or skon (to rhyme with ‘on’ – in Pinotage Towers those from the north say skon and those from the south say skoan. Thus both are correct.)

"Sensational South Africa" - Tesco

"It's a country where the magnificent scenery is matched by terrific wines", states Tesco in its March Wine Club Magazine.
And which wine is dominating the cover but Beyers Truter's Pinotage. It has a cracking classy label that would grace any table. It's in Tesco's 'Finest' range, and -- since they already stock Beyerskloof standard Pinotage -- I guess this is a relabelled Beyerskloof Reserve. It is priced at £7.99, two pounds more than the standard Beyerskloof.

Graham Nash writes in the magazine "Some would say that a country that first planted vines in the 1650s, and whose wines were favourites of Napoleon and Jane Austen, hardly qualifies as ‘New World’. However, it’s only in the post-apartheid era that South Africa has again begun to make an impression on our palates. As in sports such as rugby and cricket, it’s taken a while to make an impact, but the wines since then have improved beyond recognition.

"Many of the grapes grown are familiar. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay were the first to become popular, but the fashionable grapes at the moment are Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc. The style of both – as with many South African wines – sits at a very attractive halfway house between the exuberant fruitiness of the New World and the elegance of the Old. There is also some very good Pinot Noir being made, especially in the country’s cooler areas. But the country does have two points of difference, in the shape of Pinotage and Chenin Blanc.

"Pinotage produces wines with lively flavours of wild berry fruit, occasionally spiced up with hints of banana and toasted marshmallows. You’ll find full and light-bodied reds, and surprisingly good rosés, ranging from good value wines to some that are amongst the finest in the country.

W"hatever food you’re planning, you won’t have trouble finding a South African wine to match it. The local cuisine sees the influence of several cultures – European, Indian, African and Indonesian – combined to extremely tasty effect, and the refined yet flavourful wines are excellent accompaniments. And of course there’s the braai, South Africa’s super-sized version of a barbecue. Forget formal dining. Simply charge your glass with Pinotage, gaze up at the starlit sky and enjoy."

I want that classy black label Beyers Truter Pinotage, but sadly it hasn't yet appeared in my local Tesco stores.

A Decade of Kanonkop Pinotage - Part 2

The tasting notes.



Kanonkop Estate has been making Estate wine since 1973, and in that time there have been only four winemakers, Jannie Krige and famed rugby player Jan “Boland” Coetzee (now at Vriesenhof), then Beyers Truter (now at Beyerskloof) from 1980, and currrently Abrie Beeslaar took over the reins in in 2002. The owners are Johann and Paul Krige, the fourth generation at this family owned wine farm.


Kanonkop were pioneers in planting Pinotage and their old Pinotage vineyard (pictured below) still contains many of the original vines.



2005 Kanonkop Kadette
Soft front, easy drinking, some body from the Cabernet plus the typical Pinotage sweetness, pleasant tang on finish. 60% Pinotage/25% Cabernet S/15% Merlot. Made from the younger vines, up to 15 years old. (85 pts.)

1995 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage - Cape Winemakers Guild
Black core, red rim. Clean nose, red berry fruits, soft tannins, ripe and delicious. Dry tannins on a very long finish (93 pts.)

1997 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Dense black colour, red rim. Sharp nose, less fruit, firmer and higher toned, crisp tannins, higher acidity. (84 pts.)

1998 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Dark red, wider red rim. Slight barnyardy nose, sweet fruits but I think this has started its downward path -- fades in glass. (83 pts.)

1999 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Dark core, slightly paler rim. Blackberry fruits. Theres a depth of ripe fruits with sweetness and tannins intertwined and a good balance of acidity. There's a freshness and liveliness about this wine, best of the evening. I remember having enjoyed several 99s over the years and recommending it as a Kanonkop that could be enjoyed young. Wish I'd kept some. Now, where can I buy more? (97 pts.)

2000 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Farmyard nose, deep core red rim. Good fruits, but drying tannins - and a bit matallic - on the finish (84 pts.)

2001 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Intense black core, really ripe approachable fruits, good structure and balance, very very nice. (94 pts.)

2002 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Very dark, sweet nose. This is quite different on the palate from the previous 6 vintages – there’s wine gums, sweet jamminess. It is very drinkable, but it doesn't have that same family style all the others do. This is the handover vintage with both Abrie Beeslaar and Beyers Truter working the cellar. (89 pts.)

2003 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Very dark, purple rim. Very easy on the front palate. There are some firm tannins on finish, nicely drinkable. This is Abrie Beeslaar first solo vintage. (85 pts.)

2004 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Intense opaque with purple rim, extracted fruity front palate, sweet body, good fruit/acid/tannin balance. Very soft integrated tannins, coming to fore on the medium long finish (89 pts.)

2005 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage
Lightest body colour, fragrant nose, rounded berry fruits of forest in mouth. There's a lot going on here, good tannins. This will be wonderful in 2015. Only 6K cases made (usually around 8K) (94 pts.)

2006 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage *Barrel sample*
Sweet fruit, beautiful welcoming fruit mulberry/blackberry with spices and coffee tones. Superb and stunning. From the the old vineyard, 3 tons per hectare, will spend 16 months in 100% new French oak barrels (97 pts.)

2007 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage *Tank sample*
This is just starting malolactic fermentation so it’s way too early to form any judgement, but it has intense colour and bubblegum flavours and very interesting to sample it on its path from vineyard to eventual bottling.


Many thanks to owners Johann & Paul Krige, Abrie Beeslaw and all the hardworking team at Kanonkop Estate for the opportunity to taste these wines and for a most enjoyable evening.

The old Pinotage vineyard at Kanonkop

Red Leaf and Green Pinotage

Beyerskloof Winery has just opened a new visitor centre and restaurant, and being the home of Pinotage, the variety features throughout the Red Leaf restaurant’s menu. The signboard at the entrance announced it was the home of the Pinotage Burger and it seemed churlish to order anything else.

When I arrived yesterday owner/winemaker Beyers Truter himself was behind the bar prising the cork from a bottle of fizz. He poured glasses of deep pink sparkling Pinotage wine and pressed them in our hands. I don’t think you’ll find Beyers staffing the bar on a daily basis – but yesterday was special because the New Zealand Crusaders Rugby XV, in South Africa for the tri-nation Super 14 match, had taken over the rear patio and as an ex-rugby player himself, Beyers wanted to make them feel at home.

But Beyers found time to show us his new cellar, built under the restaurant.. There’s a lobby filled with Beyers memorabilia, his political election posters, framed rugby shirts, awards and photos galore leading into bins containing thousands of library wines resting in a welcoming cool 16 degrees.

Beyerskloof, with its red Pinotage leaf logo, is the single largest brand of Pinotage wine, and has just released an amazing 1.5 million bottles of their standard 2006 Pinotage. How to make wine in such quantities at such a keen price (33 Rand at the farm) and maintain quality is Beyers’ skill. Beyer’s doesn’t agree with machine harvesting. “There’s people out there crying for work”, he says. “If I need to harvest, I can get 100 pickers straight away. And it doesn’t matter if its Saturday or Sunday – they want to work.” It is not just harvesting. “We took fifty people and trained them to prune and layer vines and they did a perfect job. I gave each of them a certificate that they can show to any wine farm in the future. It says Beyerskloof trained them and that they can do the job. It’s little enough, but it helps.”

Beyers isn’t resting on his laurel. “You can’t stand still’” he says. Coming soon is a white Pinotage in the style of the light Portuguese Vino Verde, (the green wine, as in fresh and young) – he’ll be calling it Pino-Verde. "I'll give it a little petillance," he says. And a serious Methode Cap Classique sparkler is on the way.

Boot Camp

Beyers tells me he is planning on a winemakers boot camp where anyone who wants to learn how to make wine will be welcome. "I'll set up some tents, they'll be in teams working and sleeping together. They'll do everything - starting the yeasts, crushing etc and we'll mark the teams each day with prizes for the winning team. It'll be like army training," Beyers laughs, and reminisces about his days in the Army.

The new tasting room and restaurant were designed by his wife Esmé and took a year to build. Its colour is the pale grey of polished concrete, livened by clever lighting and stunning photographs of the farm, and featuring Beyerskloof's red Pinotage leaf logo.



Back in the restaurant, my enormous Pinotage Burger (right) arrived. It is a thick ground lamb meat patty on chargrilled aubergine and pepper, topped with Pinotage cooked onions and enclosed in a large fresh bread roll, with some tasty huge fried potato wedges on the side and a garnish of salad. And, currently on offer, each burger comes with two free 25cl mini bottles of 2005 Pinotage. We saved those for later and enjoyed a 2001 Pinotage Reserve. This was a Top 10 winner in 2002, and had matured superbly, with sweet fruit at the front over soft oak and a long long finish. I wish I could pour a glass of this for every Pinotage sceptic.

With a Pinotage Brandy Tart, with a side of purple Pinotage flavoured ice-cream I was replete.

There’s a new 'must visit' destination on the wine route: Beyerskloof and the Red Leaf.

Harvest Report - 2005 Best Ever for Pinotage

Beaumont dedicated their 2005 vintage to Hope Marguerite Beaumont "who has been an inspirational figure for us all and is the namesake of the Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc that we harvested on her 90th birthday this year." Winemaker Sebastian Beaumont reports that the "2005 harvest has been a combination of good luck and hard work. A dry winter, no snow, then rain and lightning to spark the vines to life in spring had us guessing as to what this vintage was going to deliver.

"High nitrogen levels due to the lightning gave lots of healthy strong growth that we kept in check with good canopy management and early exposure of the bunches to the sun. This was followed by a dry summer, with rain only in February, resulting in small berries and a lighter crop especially on the Pinotage and Tinta Barocca.

"We had to be patient with the reds leaving them to reach full tannin ripeness until the sugars were nicely balanced with the acid levels. Great analysis, and even better flavours and structures show wines with good ageing potential. The Pinotage is very similar to ’04 with lovely cherry and strawberry fruit backed by good structure and fine tannins."

Beaumont also use Pinotage in their port. Sebastian says "A few pairs of size 13 feet helped the smaller feet successfully stomp the Pinotage and Tinta Barocca grapes at our annual port stomp this year. The resulting port is rich with Christmas pudding and stewed fruit aromas and is slowly marrying with the wood matured grape spirits that were used for fortification."

Beyers Truter, chairman of the Pinotage Association, says "2005 is one of the best vintages ever for Pinotage wines due to the difficult weather conditions during the ripening and harvesting season which created small grapes with intensive colour and flavour"

Abé Beukes, winemaker at Darling Cellars: “Once again this is a vintage characterised by variation. It is a soft, drinkable vintage, but don’t try to keep the wines five or ten years in the bottle. I am very satisfied with the Sauvignon blanc and the Pinotage, because they were picked relatively early, before the heat wave and the rain."

.

Pinotage is a HUSP for South Africa

Pinotage is not just a USP for South Africa, stated Beyers Truter: it's a HUSP - a Huge Unique Selling Point. Truter, owner/winemaker at Beyerskloof Winery & Chair of the Pinotage Association, was speaking to UK based clients of ABSA Bank, sponsors of the annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition at a Pinotage tasting and luncheon in London on 5 October 2004.

He said that because "Pinotage wine was first made just 80 years ago, it is still in baby shoes", compared with varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. However, "through extensive research by the Pinotage Association, we know more about growing and making Pinotage than is known about any other variety anywhere".

Truter said winemakers must ask themselves "do I want to be an imitator or an innovator?" He declared "Pinotage makers are the innovators of South Africa and we're aiming to make the best Pinotage in the world."

The event was held in the wine cellar of South African owned Vivat Bacchus restaurant, a partner of Johannesburg's Browns restaurant. It started with a walk around tasting of ten top Pinotages, selected to represent the best wines of recent years. They were poured by five leading winemakers, Dirkie Morkel (Bellevue Estate), Francois Naude (L'Avenir Estate), Danie Steytler (Kaapzicht Estate), Bennie Wannenburg (Wamakersvallei Winery) and Beyers Truter.

A luncheon menu especially prepared to match the wines, with Pinotage a component of several dishes, included starter 'Freezer Cured Pinotage Foie Gras' and main course 'Pinotage Braised Daube of Beef'. Dessert wasaccompanied by the unique sweet Pineau de Laborie, a part fermented Pinotage wine fortified with Pinotage brandy.

Dirkie Morkel reflected that although few of the guests were previously familiar with Pinotage, there was great enthusiasm for the wines, and the level of general wine knowledge was high. "I was put on the spot several times by detailed questions", he said. Beyers Truter concluded the event had been a resounding success, and suggested it could become an annual event.

The wines were:

• Allee Bleue 2002
• Bellevue 2002
• Beyerskloof Reserve 2001
• Graham Beck Old Road 2002
• Kaapzicht Steytler 2001
• L'Avenir 2000
• Rijk's Private Cellar 2002
• Tukulu 2001
• Uiterwyk De Waal 2002
• Wamakersvallei La Cave 2002
  and
• Pineau de Laborie 2001