Te Awa 2003 Pinotage

Te Awa estate was founded in 1992 in Hawkes Bay on New Zealand’s North Island. Their vineyards grow on the famed Gimblett Gravels, which used to be the wide bed of the Ngaruroro River until it changed its course in 1876. The land was considered worthless for more than a century until some pioneers proved it was premium terroir for red wines. The ground comprises small flat pieces of grey gravel causing vine roots burrow deep down to find pockets of soil.

Te Awa’s 2003 Pinotage was dark black and opaque with bright red highlights where it caught the light. Spicy and crisp with deep tangy red berry fruits and a lingering finish. It was in excellent condition and ideal drinking showing again what fine Pinotage is made in New Zealand. Very more-ish and finished all too soon.


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New Super Premium NZ Pinotage launched

Kidnapper Cliffs, a new super premium wine label, has been launched by two New Zealand wineries located on the North Island; Te Awa in Hawkes Bay and Dry River in Martinborough.

The Kidnapper Cliffs brand name refers to Cape Kidnappers at the southern end of Hawkes Bay which gained its name after a crewman was captured by Maoris during Captain Cook's maiden voyage to New Zealand in October of 1769.

The range of five wines includes a Pinotage. Kidnapper Cliffs say

“With careful vineyard management and conservative winemaking we intend to explore the full potential of this somewhat unfashionable variety. We expect such wines to have a distinctive personality and an enhanced cellaring potential. This Pinotage has a vibrant purple-red colour and a nose which speaks of an armful of roses, red skinned apples and baking spice. Layers of fine fruit tannin and savoury characters balance the flamboyant berry fruit and rose petal flavours. The underlying structural integrity of this wine suggests a good future in the cellar.”

I look forward to tasting it sometime...

Corbans 1967 Pinotage

As readers of my book will know, New Zealand has been making Pinotage for almost as long as South Africa.

Corbans were the first to release a varietal NZ Pinotage and though this label is not from that earliest vintage it is evidence of New Zealand's long history with the variety.

Thanks to Sue Courtney of www.wineoftheweek.com who successfully bidded for the label, on my behalf, from a NZ auction site.


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Karikari Pinotage 2007 is Wine of the Week

Sue Courtney has chosen the 2007 Karikari Estate Pinotage as her wine of the week. - see here

After tasting through all Karikari's Pinotages from their first 2003 vintage release she said

"It's an evolution that leads up to the blockbuster Karikari Estate Northland Pinotage 2007. Deep black red coloured with a violet sheen, it's savoury and spicy on the nose with chicory / mocha / chocolate and smoked meats in unison - fresh - voluptuous - tantalising. Youthful and primary to the taste with lots of underlying acidity - tannins are amazingly supple and svelte and have a fine texture while the flavours has a meaty savoury depth and bittersweet red fruits - but it's juicy and full of sweet berry and cherry too.... tasty, sweet-fruited and a little spicy - momentarily Aus Shiraz comes to mind - but it's too savoury and gamey to ever be that. Don't like Pinotage - then try this. It's simply excellent."

I too highly rate Karikari. I tasted a tank sample of this wine in December 2008 as reported here, and my video of winemaker Ben Dugdale talking about his Pinotage is here

Winemaker Ben Dugdale talks about Pinotage (video)

Ben Dugdale is winemaker at Karikari Estate, New Zealand's most northerly. He showed me around the estate in December 2008 (see my report here) but I didn't have the bandwidth while travelling to upload this video of him in his Pinotage vineyard

In the video he talks about growing Pinotage and why he is planting some more. The berries are small and green because this was filmed in December. They'll be ready for harvesting soon.

Ben uses the following terms:

Veraison - that is when the grapes ripen and change colour to black

Brix - is a measurement of sugar in the grape. A finished wine will have an alcohol level a little over half the brix reading. So when Ben measures 24 brix thats teling him those grapes would produce 12.5-13% alcohol by volume.

Marsden Estate 2000

Here’s a rare one; an eight year old Pinotage from Marsden Estate in KeriKeri in the Bay of Islands near the top of North Island. The winery is named after Reverend Samuel Marsden who planted New Zealand’s first vineyard by the coast in the Bay of Islands.

The back label suggests this wine will cellar from two to five years and we’re already three years past that date. The wine is pale red turning to brick and it doesn’t have too much bouquet. There are sweet fruit flavours, although they’re fading and the wine has all the characteristics of smooth aged claret. Pleasant, but it is time to drink up.

Marsden Estate 2004

Here we’re in the recommended cellaring range and indeed this wine appears to have a lot of life left in it. The colour is dark garnet with a red rim. It is rather classy; nice fruit balanced by gentle tannins with some dusty blueberries flavours and a creamy finish. This is a very drinkable and enjoyable wine.

Many thanks to Ben Dugdale for arranging the opportunity for me to drink these wines.

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Guess Who is Growing this Pinotage.

Gourmet blogger Douglas Blyde of Intoxicating Prose posted a comment asking “Please may we have another picture of a vineyard to guess its location?”

So here it is.

My question is -- which winery is growing this Pinotage?

Some clues. I have been in New Zealand for the past month or more and this picture was taken on 31 December 2008 in the grounds of a major New Zealand winery which is famous, especially in Britain which is a major importer, for Sauvignon Blanc wines.

If you know anything about NZ wine you’ll recognise the winery name; we’re not talking about some garagiste winery you’ve never heard of.

But the winery does not list a Pinotage varietal among its wines, so you’ll find no help on winery websites. The size of the grapes in the picture may give you a clue as to whether we are on the North or South Island, and that in turn may indicate the region.

It’s a near impossible question, so don’t hold back – have a guess and have a go!

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Te Awa’s Outrageous and Opulent Pinotage

Outrageous and opulent -- a taste feast. That is the Pinotage promise on Te Awa's restaurant wine list and who could resist it? The winery adds that ‘this is a statement Pinotage in the world of conformity and mediocrity’.

Never one for conformity, we had a glass of 2005 Pinotage poured while we pondered what meal to order. There was some confusion as we discussed our choices. When the waitress took the first food order it sounded interesting but I couldn’t find it listed on my menu and after swapping menus the reason became clear. We had been given similar but different choices.

Similar problems with the wine. The first glass was showed a wine whose fruit was masked by tannins and had a green stalkiness. I couldn’t detect any obvious fault and wondered if the bottle had been opened too long but I was assured it had been opened that very day. I sloped off to the tasting counter to taste another glass but that was the same. The wine was not undrinkable, just not very forthcoming.

Another glass was poured with the meal, this time from a new bottle and it was like a different wine. Fruit forward with restrained tannins. A softly sweet bouquet and a rather classy firm wine. It was a like a car revving its engines while the brakes were on. You could just taste a hint of galumphing Pinotage flavours wanting to burst forth but they were kept firmly in check.




As to the reason for the difference in the wines; the winery suggested either the heat of the day (it was very hot) affected the wine or it was affected by TCA. This had occurred to me, because at low levels TCA suppresses fruit flavours, which is why I went to the tasting counter to taste another sample. I didn’t then know that when a wine is ordered by the glass at TeAwa wait staff take an opened bottle from the tasting counter to pour at the table then return it. So when I went to try another glass I was in fact tasting from the very same bottle. We’re pretty sensitive to TCA and didn’t detect it in the wine.

Te Awa Estate is in Hawkes Bay (you’ve probably guessed by now that I am in New Zealand) and its vineyards are planted on the famous Gimblett Gravels. The gravels formed the bed of the wide Ngaruroro river that flowed over here until 1867 when an earthquake lifted the land and the river diverted. The ground consists of metres of flat oval grey gravel stones with pockets of sand, soil and silt all deposited by the river over aeons.

TeAwa, whose name is derived from Te Awa o te atua which means 'River of God' in Maori, has seven 300 metre long rows of Pinotage, about 2,100 vines planted in 1994 in an area unsuitable for Pinot Noir. Jenny Dobson made the 2005 and all TeAwa’s previous vintages and she has a real soft spot for Pinotage. Unfortunately Jenny’s time at TeAwa came to an abrupt end earlier this year (she is now at nearby Unison Vineyard) and it will be interesting to see what her successor will make of this non-conformist variety.

“Pinotage is our cult wine which has devoted followers,” they told me at the winery. But they have no plans to plant any more. They’re keeping it a cult.





This is one of the Pinotage rows at Te Awa. You can see the Gimblett Gravel stones under the wines and see that they’ve cleared the canopy to expose the young green grapes to sunlight and air. If you’re visiting TeAwa and want to see these Pinotage vine the rows are about halfway along on the left of the driveway, just after a small gap. They are rows numbered 456 to 662.

Ascension Rings its Pinotage Bell

Ascension Winery, in New Zealand’s Matakana wine region, was just closing for the day as Sue Courtney and I drove up at 5pm but they stayed open for us to taste their 2007 ‘Bell Ringer’ Pinotage.


This is quite a different style from the 2006 ‘Parable’ which I tasted last year. It is more beaujolais like, light bodied with soft raspberry fruit flavours and 12.5% abv. This style is popular locally and the wine sells well.

Sue Courtney’s tasting note says:
Ascension 'The Bell Ringer' Pinotage 2007
Beautiful light crimson-purple red. Savoury, smoked meat and bacon notes on the nose with rustic wild cherries.Lovely clean savoury flavours, bright and tasty with a silky mouthfeel, juicy cherry and blueberry fruit and a hint of chocolate. The smoky oak from the nose comes through and the finish is distinctively Pinotage gamey. Seems to have taken a different direction from recent previous vintages. It has a lighter touch.


Ascension’s owner Darryl Soljan (pictured) says that Pinotage does every well at Ascension. He has two acres that he planted here in 1996 but Darryl and the Soljan's involvement with Pinotage goes back much earlier with other vineyards and wineries owned by the family.

Many thanks to Sue Courtney, columnist with the Rodney Times and publisher of www.wineoftheweek.com/

Babich Winemakers Reserve 1999

Less than 150 years ago the land where this vineyard is now planted was under water. This is New Zealand’s Gimblett Gravels in Hawkes Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. 150 years ago this was a flat coastal plain over which a wide river's many channels meandered on their way to the sea. An earthquake in 1867 tilted the land and the river changed course leaving the river bed dry.

Under a thin layer of topsoil the ground is composed of gravel pebbles that go down for many metres, sometimes interspersed with layers of silt and clay, all deposited by the river over aeons. Vines planted on these beds of flat smooth grey oval gravel pebbles must search for sustenance far down in one of the islands of silt and clay. The land doesn’t hold water and so drip irrigation is a must for vines to survive. Poor soil means less vigorous growth, small berries and more intense flavours. The unique terroir with temperatures 3°C higher than surrounding areas, close proximity to the sea and its cooling effects and the skill of grape growers combine to produce what many believe are New Zealand’s best wines, including Babich Winemakers Reserve Pinotage.



The family owned Babich Wines was founded in 1916. Babich now own vineyards in four regions of New Zealand with the majority of them in Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island, where the Gimblett Gravels are.

In the Cape in 2001 we held the first international Pinotage tasting and to everyone’s surprise, by just one point, Babich 2001 Winemakers Reserve came top. “But this is Pinotage!" exclaimed Chairman of the Pinotage Association Beyers Truter who had been certain that it was South African.

The back label says “Enjoyable now, it will improve for several years in the cellar.” It is now seven years later, the wine is nine years old. How has it held up?

Babich Wines
Winemakers Reserve
Pinotage 1999
Gimblett Road Vineyard
Hawkes Bay 14% abv

Dry raisin nose, maybe a bit Port like, but on the palate there’s an initial burst of sweet blueberry flavours. It is a big wine, really spicy and tangy and there is there is an underlying layer of Christmas fruitcake. Soft, barely present vanilla tannins with a lick of caramel and warm rich blueberry ripeness. This is a delicious wine, but it is probably time to drink up should you have any left.

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Quote of the Month - June

"I get a great thrill from being able to nip into the cellar and come out with a bottle that is probably the only one in Britain, maybe the world.

You don't believe me?

How many 30 year-old New Zealand Pinotages have you got?"

Oz Clarke in Decanter, July 2008 issue

Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2007

Of the thousands of wines submitted to the 2007 New Zealand Air Wine Awards competition, only three wineries entered Pinotage. All the wines that had been entered were available for tasting on the day of the awards ceremony (tasting tables pictured above). The crowds clustered around the Gold medal winners table but I headed first for 'Alternative Red Varieties'. There among Montepulcianos, Malbecs, Chambourcins and a lonely rare Marzemino I found four Pinotages.

Two of them had received Bronze awards, Karikari ‘05 and Okahu ’06 but I thought the two non-award winning entries from Pleasant Valley at least as deserving.

KariKari Estate Pinotage 2005 (Bronze award)

This wine was rich maroon colour with a purple tinge, and had a smooth silky texture with blueberry flavours and acids on a finish which was a little hot.

Okahu Pinotage 2006 (Bronze award)

Beautiful bright black colour with great mouth feel. Crisp tannins with soft tannins on the finish.

Pleasant Valley ‘Yelas’ Pinotage 2006 (No award)

Bright black core with a purple rim. Soft attractive front leads to blackberry and black cherry flavours over some gentle tannins. It’s a bit tight now and I’d love to taste this wine after it opens up with another year in bottle.

Pleasant Valley ‘Yelas Henderson Valley’ Pinotage 2006 (No award)

This is darker, more intense than the previous, with rounded soft fruity bramble berry flavours and a really good balance finished by integrated tannins and acids. I really like this wine and don’t understand its lack of a medal.

I was intrigued to see what would be a ‘Cape Blend’ in South Africa and (since the name hasn’t been copyrighted) it could be called that in New Zealand.

HiHi “Lock, Stock and Many Barrels” 2006 is a blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 35% Pinotage and 15% Merlot. It has an attractively soft approachable front – maybe it is that characteristic Pinotage sweetness that has rounded out Cab Franc’s sometimes green edge. “Lock, Stock and Many Barrels” is an easy drinking wine with some bright fruit flavours balanced by enough tannins on the finish to allow aging. (No award).

The annual Air New Zealand wine award competition, announced on Saturday 24 November,is the countries most prestigious. New Zealand has made Sauvignon Blanc its own and is close to claiming the Pinot Noir crown. Not satisfied with them, Pinot Gris and Riesling are also contenders. But the next major variety appears to be Syrah, and the 2007 Champion show wine was Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah 2006. (Pictured is John Hancock, CEO/Winemaker of Trinity Hill being escortedby grape angels to collect his award).

And after Syrah? Italian varieties are increasingly being planted. Not just the major ones, but also relative unknowns such as Arneis and Marzemino. So why shouldn’t Pinotage – which was a major New Zealand variety in the 1970’s – have another crack at the cherry? Where California is just planting Pinotage, New Zealand already has vineyards of mature Pinotage and winemakers who really understand the variety.

New Zealand Pinotage Tasting

New Zealand has been making Pinotage for forty years. The variety is not now as fashionable there is it once was, but there are some first rate Pinotages being made. Unfortunately, few are available outside New Zealand and it seems to me that they are not that widely marketed inside the country.

I was able to taste many of New Zealand’s Pinotage when I visited there last month. My trip was thanks to being able to fill the place of someone who dropped out at the last minute of a wine-writer’s tour of New Zealand, but my welcome to New Zealand and the tasting was thanks to Sue Courtney.

Sue Courtney is a wine-writer and wine-judge based near Auckland in New Zealand. She and I both started our websites in the early days of the public world-wide-web and over the past decade we have been in regular contact via email, and for more than a year I wrote a column on her site at www.wineoftheweek.com.

As soon as I knew I was flying to Auckland with a couple of days to spare before the formal tour started I emailed Sue and suggested we meet. Little did I expect that Sue would cancel all plans for two days and give me a royal tour of the area, finishing with a mammoth Pinotage tasting.

Unfortunately, although I travel a lot, I am increasingly finding jet-lag a problem. After a journey from London, via Singapore to Auckland of more than 24 hours door-to-door it seemed to me that while my body was in Auckland my brain was still in transit. So Sue had a Peter May who was unusually subdued and who kept dozing off like the Dormouse at the Mad-Hatters tea-party.

It was a shame that the Pinotage tasting was in the evening as I was struggling to stay awake.

Sue had assembled, thanks to many wineries that had sent samples, a veritable wall of Pinotage bottles. These were opened and presented blind in flights by Sue’s hubby Neil who uncomplainingly did all the donkey work of documentation.

The first flight included four still rosés and two sparklers, one pink and one red. While pink wines have their place, I can’t say that place is close to my heart. The still roses were competent but they didn’t light my fire, the best being Matua Valley Northland Rose (Almost fluorescent pink, with a sweet front palate, tangy finish and nicely balanced.) The sparkling red from Soljans (Soljans Sienna Methode Traditionelle Rouge) had been bottle matured by Sue for four years. It was first released in 2002 and the base wines were from the 1998 vintage. As is the problem with sparkling red wines, it is difficult to see the bubbles rising and they were not prominent in the mouth. It was tangy with some tannins and a pleasing sweet finish. I thought it would have been better as a still wine because the bubbles distracted from what could have been a serious wine.

I was fading fast and feared I wouldn’t be able to remain awake, so I cheered for the ‘real’ – meaning the still red Pinotages - when they appeared, forgetting that my every comment was likely to be documented by the reporter sitting opposite. Sue blogged that I said "I don't know why they bother," in reference to all the pinks. OK, I put my hands up. But I’d like it to be taken into consideration that I have spent much money on Simonsig’s sparkling pink Pinotage and drank and praised Delheim’s still pink stunner.

We then were presented with two flights each of eleven red Pinotages. There was one ‘ringer’ among the New Zealanders; it was a South African wine from Beyers Truter that I’d brought with me. I was certain that it would stick out and thus I was sure that I would identify it. We scored the wines, and chose our favourites.

In the first flight I rated the last wine highest. It had blue-red colour, a coffee nose and soft mouthfill, with juicy blueberry flavours, gentle acids, medium body and a good finish. This turned out to be the sole South African wine, a Beyers Truter Pinotage 2005 bottling for Tesco’s supermarket. This just pipped by half a point Lincoln Heritage Gisborne Pinotage 2004 (Spicy nose, light and tart with red currant fruits; really nice moreish sweet finish makes you want to drink another glass) and Marsden Estate Bay of Islands Pinotage 2004 (Coffee nose, well balanced, berry fruits, some mocha and refreshing acids on finish).

In the second flight my favourite wine was Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006 (Spicy nose, full bodied with black pepper and cherries and medium long finish), followed by Okahu Northland Pinotage 2006 (Deep colour, mulberry flavours over tannins with a spicy mid-palate) equal with Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 (Attractive warm spicy nose which follows through on the palate, bramble berries, balanced tannins and fruit acids)

Neil now brought back the ten top scoring wines from the three of us to re-taste and decide a winner.

The ten were

From Flight one:
Lincoln Gisborne Pinotage 2004 ($18)
Hihi Gisborne Pinotage 2004 ($19)
Marsden Estate Bay of Islands Pinotage 2004 ($24)
Beyers Truter Stellenbosch Pinotage 2005 (Sth Africa £7.99 =$24NZD)

From Flight two:
Muddy Water Waipara Pinotage 2006 ($32)
Okahu Northland Pinotage 2006 ($28)
Te Awa Hawkes Bay Pinotage 2006 ($30)
Kerr Farm P06 Kumeu Pinotage 2006 ($20)
Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006 ($25)
Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 ($18)

Sue, Neil and I re-tasted the wines and again scored them. Whilst the Beyers Truter South African wine had been my top scoring wine from the first flight, in the final showdown my highest scores went to Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006, with Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 and Muddy Water 2006 a close, and equal, second.

I am fascinated by the co-incidence that I had visited Ascension and enjoyed their 2006 the previous day, and had a (rather dismal) lunch at Soljans earlier the same day.

Time was getting late. Sue proposed a final taste-off, but the only thing by now that I really wanted my lips to touch was a pillow back at my hotel. Muddy Water 2006 was the only wine that all three of us had included in our top three in the taste-off; it was Sue’s top wine and my second choice and so by mutual agreement we nominated Muddy Water 2006 as the winner.

My overall view of the tasting was that there were a lot of very good wines, but also that that the reason that many did not get called back was because of high acidity. I like some acidity in wines - it makes them food friendly - but it has to be appropriate and balanced. Too many were not balanced. But it is not just Pinotage; in the following weeks in New Zealand I leveled the same criticism of excess acidity at too many Pinot Noirs.

I also wondered whether Muddy Water’s success in the blind tasting was aided by its high alcohol level – the label says 15%. I know that high alcohol wines tend to show well in tastings where each wine has less than a minute to make a statement. But it did not make my top three in the first time round, so maybe it opened up with time. I was lucky enough to taste the same wine later in my trip. It was a lone Pinotage amongst a sea of Pinot Noirs and – wow – it tasted just magnificent. But that’s another post.

Congratulations to Muddy Water.

Thanks again to Sue & Neil Courtney. Read Sue’s report of my visit here

The Survivors

Four Pinotage vines survived 30 years untended in the vineyard of an abandoned agricultural research station in the Earnscleugh Valley near Alexander, New Zealand.

Jeff Sinnott (pictured left), winemaker for Amisfield Wine Company, told me this fascinating story.

The vines received no irrigation, sprays, pruning, or any attention at all for more than thirty years in an area where frosts are severe and winter temperatures drop below minus 7˚C while summers regularly experience drought.

Just seven living vines were discovered five years ago in the research vineyard, thirty years after it closed. Three were Chenin Blanc and four were Pinotage and it is thought they were planted in the 1950’s. Unfortunately the Pinotage vines were virused but cuttings from them were taken to Gisborne where they have been propagated and grown as virus-free vines.

“I don’t think anyone has bought them yet,” says Jeff, “but it is important to preserve the DNA of these ancient vines.”

Text and Photograph Copyright © Peter F May 2007

Kerr Farm Delivers

I feel I already know Jaison Kerr (pictured right) when I see him standing waiting for Sue Courtney’s shocking yellow roadster to growl to a halt at Kerr Farm vineyard, but I have only met him via his blog where he has chronicled the life of his Pinotage vineyard.

Sue and I have come from lunch at a rather pretentious café at Soljan Vineyards and I’m keen to view Jaison’s vines, the stars of his blog. But first Jaison seats us in his garden by a brick pizza oven under a corrugated iron roof that loudly spangs as it expands and contracts when passing clouds block the bright sun. From the heat of the wood oven he slides out baked stuffed peppers on toasted ciabiatta. Tiny slivers of chile give a zing to the stuffing mix of cherry tomatoes, olives and capers and they are so deliciously fresh and flavoursome I wolf mine down, wishing that the executive chef and his brigade of cooks responsible for pre-assembled sandwiches, pre-cooked and frozen ingredients offered at lunchtime was here to taste some real food. “It’s a Jamie Oliver recipe I saw on his TV programme last week,” Jaison modestly says.

Jaison drives us through vine rows to the old vineyard. Pinotage was planted here in 1969 and, at 38 years, these are probably the oldest Pinotage vines in New Zealand*. But they are in poor health, finally succumbing to attack by ‘Lemon Tree Borer’, a moth pest whose tiny holes can be seen in the trunks of these venerable vines whose new leaf growth has withered yellowed leaves. “I’ll soon have to pull them up,” Jaison tells me.

Jaison bought the property in 1989, and moved the 1910 wooden farmhouse there on a trailer. The first vintage from Kerr Farm was in 1995; previously the grapes were sold to other wineries. The wines are made by Shane Cox at his winery.

Back in the garden Jaison opens some bottles. His 2006 vintage hasn’t yet been labelled so Jaison has written ‘P06’ on the bottle in silver ink. “I do this on bottles I bring to the tasting room, and soon customers were coming placing orders for ‘P01’ etc,” Jaison tells me. “So I decided to change the labels to match.”


Kerr Farm ‘P06’ Pinotage 2006 13.5%
This has been in bottle for six months and isn’t likely to be released for another six months. It is purple colour, with a fruity flavour of slightly unripe raspberries; it’s clean with good acidity and a crisp finish. “05 vintage was similar,” says Jaison, “The acidity just drops out.”

Kerr Farm ‘P05’ Pinotage 2005 13.0%
There’s a purple rim. The wine is light-bodied with redcurrant flavours; it is well balanced with a little acidity on a good finish.

Kerr Farm ‘P04’ Pinotage 2004 13.6%
With its dull browning-red colour this wine looks considerably older than just a year more from the preceding P04, and it tastes old with some funky tones. It is mature and losing its fruit. Jaison tells me that it is sold out at the farm. If you have any left in your cellar I’d suggest it is now time to drink up.

Jaison is a fan of Pinotage. “It has thick skins, proof against humid conditions,” he tells me. “Kerr Farm has built a reputation for Pinotage, and we are building up its reputation in this area.

Kerr Farm also produces a racy crisp Sauvignon Blanc and a barrel fermented, barrel aged Chardonnay. If you are in the Auckland area, don’t pass through without visiting.


*If you know of older Pinotage vines in New Zealand please contact me.



And this is the vehicle that Kerr Farm uses to deliver :)

Ascension Vineyard - The Parable Pinotage

My first day in New Zealand and I’m having lunch with a glass of Pinotage made from grapes grown on the neat rows of vines I can see on the low slope rising up from the edge of the winery restaurant. (picture: Peter May, right in the vineyard with owner Darryl Soljan)

I arrived just before midnight, fourteen hours previously after a door to door journey of 29½ hours, most of which was on an aeroplane.

I’m with Sue Courtney, publisher of http://www.wineoftheweek.com/ and wine and food writer for the Rodney Times newspaper, and we’re dining at the Oak Grill restaurant of Ascension Vineyard which Sue is reviewing for her paper. The newly themed restaurant aims to bring the vineyard into the kitchen by grilling food over wine soaked oak chips cut from old wine barrels, and the mouthwatering smell of charcoal barbequed meats is in the air as we climb out of Sue’s bright yellow MGTF convertible.

Each dish has a recommended wine, and by co-incidence our choices each suggest Ascension’s ‘The Parable’ Pinotage. Sue has gone for grilled lamb steaks in Moroccan spices, I’ve picked a lighter choice of wild hare pie.

The sun is bright, it’s war, the sky is clear blue, I’m lunching in a winery restaurant and there’s a glass of Pinotage in my hand. It doesn’t get much better.


Ascension Vineyard ‘The Parable’ Pinotage 2006

The red colour has a purple tinge, the wine is medium bodied with dominant cherry flavours, there’s a lot of fruit and while it has had spent nine months in oak barrels (50% French 50% and American “to give it a lift”, a third each new, first and second fill) the oaking is subtle, giving some underpinning structure. Sue detects some leather, but I don’t; I think it is an enjoyable fruit-led wine and order another glass. The meaning of the ‘Parable’ name is explained on the back label as ‘placing two or more objects together and biblically “and earthly story with a heavenly meaning”’

A youngish man has been clearing tables of dirty plates; he’s not in the waiters’ black uniform but wearing a t-shirt and jeans and I assume he’s been brought in to help out as the restaurant is packed on this lovely Saturday. But when we’ve finished our meal he comes over, holding a bottle, and greets us. It is the winery owner, Darryl Soljan and he’s brought a bottle of the 2000 Pinotage, which was the very first wine released by Ascension and made from the Pinotage vineyard which they planted in 1996.


Ascension Vineyard Pinotage 2000 13% abv

Pale red colour that is browning. Light bodied, soft cherry flavours reminiscent of an old Pinot Noir, but with a sweetness on the finish. Very attractive, soft gentle wine. The characteristic Pinotage sweetness makes this wine, but it is probably passed it’s peak and should be enjoyed soon.


Ascension Vineyard is in the Matakana wine region, a short drive north of Auckland.

New Zealand - Here I Come!

I am thrilled that tomorrow morning I will be travelling to New Zealand for a tour of winelands and wineries with the Circle of Wine Writers, kindly organised by the New Zealand Winegrowers.

New Zealand has the largest Pinotage plantings outside South Africa; the pity is that so few NZ Pinotages are exported. Most of the few NZ Pinotages that I have tasted have been good -- indeed it was Babich's Winemaker's Reserve Pinotage which came top in the international Pinotage tasting we held some year ago in Cape Town.

I am delighetd that this coming weekend I will at long last meet Sue Courtney, publisher of www.wineoftheweek.com who has been a good friend of the Pinotage Club for many years and Sue has generously has organised some visits to Pinotage wineries near Auckland and a tasting of NZ Pinotages.

I will be blogging when possible while I am in NZ and normal service should be resumed in December after I return home, via a stopover in Singapore.

KariKari Pinotage 2005

Jules van Cruysen in Wellington, New Zealand, posted these notes about KariKari Estate, a winery in the far north of New Zealand that I've not previously heard of. He says

KariKari Estate Pinotage 2005

"This is their most expensive (NZ$45) and flagship wine and I think sums up their style the best – it had a dark inky purple color and a rich fruit forward nose with ripe lack plums and cedar coming through predominantly. These follow through on the palate but more as secondary flavours and are complemented by a fleshy, sinewy, almost mutton characteristics both in terms of flavour profile but also texturally.

These were also underpinned by rich and heady coffee and cacao flavours. It had a taut, drying tannin structure which offset the sweet ripeness of the wine. Personally I don't think this wine will be everybodies cup of tea (isn't this the case with everything) but I really enjoyed enjoyed it and think it is probably the best example of a Kiwi pinotage."


Karikari Estate's first vines were planted in 1998 with their first vintage in 2003. They now have 40 hectares planted with Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc, Malbec, Pinotage, Chardonnay, Viognier and Montepuliciano.


The Pinotage is their most expensive wine. Winemaker Ben Dugdale has this to say about the current 2005 Pinotage.


"What I aim for in this wine is a clear, pronounced varietal definition of Pinotage. The vines give us fist sized rather compact bunches of ovoid shaped berries. The skins are tight and reasonably thin, pulp quite firm and the seeds small. It reminds me in some ways of Pinot noir and that has influenced the method of vinification.


I prefer about 30-40% whole berries in the ferment, which allows a little carbonic fermentation aroma to lift the fruit in the resultant wine. I do not enjoy the characters that post ferment maceration give the wine so generally remove the skins within days (sometimes hours) of the wine reaching 0 brix.


Pressing lasts a few hours and I generally add the press wine back to the “free run”, unless there is a damn good reason not to. The wine undergoes malolactic in barrel and usually goes for about 2 months. The wine is racked post malolactic fermentation and sulphur added. The wine remains in barrel for about a year with regular topping. At the end of maturation the wine is pumped into tank and prepared for bottling. I felt there was no great benefit in fining or “adjusting” the acid in this wine – so was very happy to leave it alone"




Thanks to Jules for allowing me to post his tasting notes. Visit his blog here

Auckland Pinotage's Amazing Longevity

New Zealander Paul Sharp came across this bottle of Coopers Creek * 1982 Pinot Noir - Pinotage.

"Hopes were certainly not high amongst those present," he writes, "yet I was very confident mainly due to the Pinotage component. The much-maligned variety seems to have amazing longevity particularly in wines from around the Auckland area within New Zealand.

While not an outstanding wine, it held together convincingly throughout 20 minutes in the glass and never threatened to disintegrate. Flavours and aromas were olive and herbal notes but beyond that it was really quite nondescript. However the palate was smooth and full and rather pleasant.

All in all quite a surprise from a 25 year old bottle that would not be considered an aging wine."

I have little experience of NZ Pinotage and none at all of old ones, and I am intrigued to learn that Auckland's Pinotages have a reputation for longevity.

Paul Sharp is founder-director of Global Wine Consultants Ltd, based in Auckland, New Zealand.

The above review and photograph come from Paul's blog at www.wineconsultant.co.nz and are reproduced here with his kind permission.

*Coopers Creek have achieved fame recently as the producer of the very popular Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc -- one of the labels featured in my book.

Veraison in NZ

Sue Courtney visited Kerr Farm in Kumeu, New Zealand today, 17 February, just as their Pinotage grapes reached veraison -- and if that is a term new to you, then Sue will explain all if you click here and show Kerr Farm's spiffy new label design for the 2004 Pinotage. Jaison Kerr, who purchased the vineyard in 1989, says "The Pinotage 2004 called "PO4" is so good we designed a new label for it."



Meanwhile, I am in South Africa where the early ripening Pinotage is mostly picked and already fermenting, but I was intrigued to read a snippet in an article about picking Shiraz by J P Rossouw, of the release a single vineyard Pinotage from Meerendal. The wine, called 'Heritage Block' Pinotage 2005 comes from a vineyard planted in 1955, thus the vines were 50 years when the grapes were harvested, and they must join Bellevue Estate and De Waal's 'Top of the Hill' vineyard as the oldest in the world. Meerendal has been added to on my list of wineries to visit and I must taste 'Heritage Block'.

photo of Pinotage Veraison at Kerr Farm was taken by and is (c) Copyright Sue Courtney and is used with her kind permission.