Pinotage Tops Chinese Challenge

Pinotage was voted the favourite red wine of Chinese consumers at the Grape Wall Challenge last Friday in Beijing, China when Foot of Africa Pinotage 2006, made by Kleine Zalze in Stellenbosch, won first place

Judges tasted 23 red wines that retail in China for under 100 Renminbi (about £10.10 or $15USD or 140 ZAR)

The challenge aimed to find good but affordable wines and to involve consumers in the process. Judging was done by teams of 6 consumers and 6 experts. The consumers team were asked to rate each wine as 'love it', 'like it', 'dislike it' or 'hate it'. The experts panel included wine makers and lecturers who used the 20 point scale to score wines. The experts gave 9th place to the Pinotage, but when the two teams scores were combined Foot of Africa Pinotage was in third place.

Read the full report here. Thanks to Jim Boyce of grapewallofchina.com who organised the tasting for permission to use these photographs.





Foot of Africa Pinotage can be seen below, third from the right in the front row




Photographs ©Copyright Jim Boyce grapewallofchina.com

Striking a blow against conventional tyranny!

Martyn Mills is a man after my own heart. This is what he says on his website:-

"The most important reason to drink Pinotage is because it is enjoyable. Another is that it is red. Somebody once said that the first duty of wine is to be red. That it has health benefits when consumed in moderation is a bonus. Study after study has shown that the moderate consumption of red wine could be beneficial to your health. Red wine contains high concentrates of resveratol, an anti-oxidant that shows abilities to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

And why Pinotage rather than other red wines?

Because it is different, because it is uniquely South African, because it allows you to strike a blow against the tyranny of the conventional."

South African Martyn and his Chinese business partner Liu Lian have created Martyns Red, a wine made especially for the Chinese market. It is 50% Pinotage, a variety Martyn thinks is suited to the Chinese palate, blended with Shiraz, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon.

Martyns web-site is at http://www.mcm-china.com/