Lunch and Pinotage at Seidelberg Estate

Torrential rain of the past view days clears and so to Seidelberg Estate near Paarl for lunch. It’s too cool to sit outside but indoors there are open wood fires to take away the chill. And through the glass there is a terrific view over the valley.

Restaurant staff are friendly as is the menu with a range of traditional dishes each with an explanation of their construction and sometimes their history.

I plump for the Cape Malay chicken and yoghurt curry, my partner for the lamb curry (both 78R/£6.50/$13) and we share a starter of delicious delicate vegetable samosas (35R/£3/$6). The curries come in a bowl on a plate with a bowl of rice and a sambal of chopped tomato and cucumber. The waitron removes the very hot curry bowl with her bare hands and places it by the plate then the rice and raita so I can move spoonfuls of each onto the now empty plate as I wish.

Each dish has a recommended wine; Chardonnay is suggested for the chicken but I have a much better idea and order a glass of Pinotage.

The wine arrives cool, which is excellent as too many red wines are served too hot. On a hot day the wine would quickly warm up but today I cup it a little in my hands because the wine is not offering much at first.

This is not an ‘in-your-face’ wine, it’s serious and restrained with black cherry flavours at first then developing layers of complexity revealing seams of pepper and spices and some tannins. One glass is not enough and a second is ordered.

The curry comprises boneless chicken pieces in a thick red tomato based sauce with delicate spices but no chilli heat to speak of. The lamb curry also has potato chunks of which I am envious and I’d have liked some veggies in mine.

An excellent lunch and I call into the cellar burrowed into the valley side to buy a bottle of the Pinotage 2008 I have just drunk (30R/£2.50/$5 a glass, 95 R a bottle in the restaurant, 71R/£6/$12 a bottle ex-cellar) plus a bottle of the Roland’s Reserve 2007 Pinotage (123R/£10/$20 ex-cellar). Both wines are Estate Wine of Origin Paarl

2004 Pinotage Vintage

The annual Pinotage new vintage tasting sampled 13 wines from tanks and barrels selected from various regions. Although 2004 was one of the most difficult harvests ever for the wine industry, the flexibility and continuous quality of Pinotage clearly showed to the eighty wine experts, wine makers and wine writers who gathered at Doornbosch in Stellenbosch in June.

“Compared to last year’s excellent harvest overall, it took much more effort in 2004 to source the prime vineyards, but the wines from all the regions still showed good structure and high quality,” says Charles Hopkins, board member of the Pinotage Association “After enjoying one of the best vintages in decades last year, the Cape winelands this year experienced one of the most difficult vintages ever. It is therefore very gratifying that in spite of the adverse climatic conditions and high volume harvest, which usually has a detrimental effect on quality, the 2004 Pinotage wines which were tasted showed a constant line of fine quality.”

The vice-chairman of the Pinotage Association and Cape Wine Master, Duimpie Bayly, emphasised the versatility of the Pinotage variety. “Pinotage is a very stable variety – this was a very challenging harvest, but it still delivered superb wines. With regard to the market, this South African variety’s versatility is a plus factor. A good example is Rosé wines, which are now becoming increasingly popular internationally and Pinotage is also ideal for this style of wine. People are looking for good quality wines that are very drinkable.

Prof. Joël van Wyk, a retired lecturer in Oenology and honorary member of the Pinotage Association, agreed that the versatility of Pinotage is not fully utilized. “You can make top quality Rosé wines with Pinotage grapes, while it also supplies an excellent base for Port. The different approaches in styles of Pinotage red wines which were experienced at the new vintage tasting, is also very gratifying. With Pinotage you can satisfy everybody’s taste preferences.

“Because Pinotage grapes ripen early, it usually is harvested before the heat wave that hits the Cape winelands in February. Pressing techniques also play a role. Pinotage grapes have beautiful fruit, colour and tannins and the long skin contact during fermentation is not always necessary. The result is more elegant wines with lower alcohol without sacrificing structure and fruit flavours,” says Prof. Van Wyk.

The 2004 vintage is one of the largest ever for Pinotage by volume. The common characteristics of the 2004 Pinotage wines tasted include excellent colour and typical banana and plum flavours. Experts agreed that although most of the wines were very accessible, all the wines boasted an aftertaste full of lingering flavours.

The wine cellars from the regions and wards whose wines were selected for the new vintage tasting by their representatives, were Aan-de-Doorns (Worcester), Citrusdal Kelder, Diemersfontein (Wellington), Domaine Brahms (Paarl), Lanzerac (Stellenbosch), Middelvlei (Devon Valley), Mooiplaas (Bottelary), Neethlingshof (Stellenbosch), Rico Suter Landgoed (Rawsonville), Seidelberg Landgoed (Paarl), Sumaridge Wyne (Walker Bay), Swartland Wynkelder (Malmesbury) en Viljoensdrift (Robertson).