Pinotage on Tap (POT) comes to the UK

The annual Pinotage on Tap (POT) festival is coming to England. POT, hosted by Diemersfontein Wines, regularly attracts thousands of fans to the wine farm in Wellington, South Africa and in recent times POTs have also been held in Johannesburg and Durban.

26 & 27 May 2012 will see the first international POT to be staged. The location will be Poyning Grange Farm, Fulking, South Downs, Sussex, near Brighton. Tickets are £65.00 per person, It will be a two-day festival, and visitors can choose to buy a ticket for either one day or both.

Diemersfontein say the festival will involve a variety of culinary treats, from various bowl foods and canapés, to the much spoken about "strawberry and chocolate fountains". Wine lovers can enjoy a fantastic day out, whilst sipping this delectable wine, eating a variety of interesting foods, playing games and listening to great live band music. Promising to be an authentic South African party in every possible way, with typical South African cuisine and entertainment by South African musicians.

And of course, Diemersfonteins original Coffee Chocolate Pinotage will be flowing from the barrel, literally "Pinotage on tap"

More information about the event can be found on the Pinotage on Tap 2012 page, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Ticket sales will go live on Computicket on 1 March 2012. Enquiries to online@diemersfontein.co.za


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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

Sultry, Heady & Tantalizingly Delicious!

Wines of the Month

Diemersfontein Pinotage 2009
Sultry, Heady & Tantalizingly Delicious!
(Wellington, South Africa.)/$18-$22

This hallmark expression of Pinotage is characterized by not-so-subtle hints of roasted coffee and dark chocolate…and it has earned so much praise and achieved so much popularity that a number of cognoscenti attribute this highly distinctive version of Pinotage from David Sonnenberg with having saved and lifted Pinotage from longstanding commercial obscurity. Folks, not all Pinotage will taste like this…or be this amazingly wonderful…so seek this one out and give it a whirl. Once you do…I’m certain of two things – 1) you too will be singing its praise -- and 2) it won’t be your last bottle

From Ricks Wine Skinny January newsletter - sign up for the monthly USA based newsletters by emailing Rick Davis ricksgrapeskinny (at) gmail.com

Diemersfontein Exports "Coffee Lite"

Diemersfontein invented the coffee accented Pinotage category eleven years ago. Their wine has been described as a cult and has a sell out annual festival, Pinotage on Tap, in its honour. A dozen other wineries have followed their lead by making coffee Pinotages.

The latest vintage available in Europe, 2010, now says COFFEE PINOTAGE on its front label. But that is not all that has changed. In a move that reminds me of the ‘New Coke’ story, export versions of the wine have had the coffee accents reduced. “This is to let the fruit be more prominent,” says Aubern Williams who staffed Diemersfontein’s stand at Cape Wine Europe this week. “But the original format will continue to be sold in South Africa,” he explained.

I found the wine seemed a lighter, thinner version of the wine I remembered - more Birds Mellow blend than Starbucks...

I don’t understand why the winning formula has been toned down for the export market at the same time as ‘coffee’ has been added to the front label for the first time and I asked Aubern to explain.





Aubern works in the Diemersfontein tasting rooms and he was in London to show Diemersfontein and the Thokozani empowerment project wines

If you are in the Cape then you should be going to Diemersfontein on 22 October for the annual POT day to celebrate the release of the 2011 vintage 'coffee Pinotage' (original recipe) - see here for details.

In the Press

Irit Boxer-Shank is the youngest winemaker in Israel and one of only five women employed in Barkan Winery’s cellar. Dale Robertson , who interviewed her for the Houston Chronicle says, “at the moment, she's most passionate about Pinotage, a grape she believes has a superb future in the Israeli terroir.”



New Zealand’s Wanguini Chronicle says Kidnapper Cliffs Hawke's Bay Pinotage 2009, is “produced by the talented team at Te Awa, who have a long pedigree when it comes to making great Pinotage, this is a gorgeous, buxom red showing layers of sweet black tea, baking spices, plum and pepper. It has a delicious, warm, earthy character in the mouth and sensational persistence of flavour.”



Anthony Rose in The Independent (UK) includes Diemersfontein’s Pinotage in a list of wines he dislikes, saying its “its oak-derived flavours of coffee and chocolate” are “an aberration,” but he noted its great popularity. The recent appearance of Marks & Spencer’s Coffee Pinotage Mochatage and Tesco’s mocha-flavoured Choccochino Shiraz which are “as distasteful as the Diemersfontein Pinotage I so dislike. But I have no doubt that to those who like the taste of chocolate in their wine, they will be extremely popular.”

He say that this “goes to show that however objective we try to be about taste, beauty in the long run is in the eye – and nose – of the beholder.”


However Koos Kombuis at South Africa’s Mail & Guardian has made Pinotage the focus of his diet. The columnist writes “during the last few weeks, after eating mostly fat-free food and heaps of vegetables, aided by lots of Beyerskloof Pinotage wine (which, according to the manufacturers, contains a substance that actually enlarges blood vessels), my cholestrol count has miraculously dropped from 7,5 to 6,4, and I’ve lost an astonishing two-and-a-half kilogrammes”.



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Diemersfontein scores in SA and USA

Diemersfontein is doubly chuffed: their 'Carpe Diem' Pinotage 2008 (labelled 'Reserve' in the USA) has been awarded the National Award for best Pinotage in the 2010 SA Terroir Wine Awards and while celebrating that win they received notification that the standard 'coffee and chocolate' Diemersfontein Pinotage 2009 has scored 91 points in USA's influential Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Owner David Sonnenberg told me "Diemersfontein is so excited about this – couldn’t be a better 10th birthday present!"

Congrats to all at Diemersfontein.



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Pinotage on Tap: Booking Opens

It’s the tenth anniversary of the style of Pinotage that kicked off a huge trend and, to celebrate the launch of the 2010 Diemersfontein Pinotage, the originator of the ‘coffee’n’chocolate’ wine is extending the annual Pinotage on Tap celebration to three locations in addition its home on Diemersfontein Estate


KZN Midlands
Date: 11 September 2010
Venue: Piggly Wiggly Farm, Lions River
Band: Lonesome Dave and Farrel Purkiss

On the River
Date: 26 September 2010
Venue: Stonehaven on Vaal, The Vaal River, Vanderbijlpark

Johannesburg
Date: 2 October 2010
Venue: The Cradle Restaurant, The Cradle of Humankind, Lanseria
Band: Lonehill Estate

The Cape
Date: 30 October 2010
Venue: Diemersfontein Wine & Country Estate
Band: Lonesome Dave and Cassette

Booking is open on the website www.diemersfontein.co.za or phone 021 864 5050

Diemersfontein -- London Concert

Diemersfontein -- famous for creating the original coffee'n'chocolate 'Peoples Pinotage -- are hosting a fundraising concert on London on Wednesday 26th May at St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London W1.

All proceeds from the concert go to a support programme for exceptional young artists and singers and Wellington Preparatory School.

Headlining the concert is soprano Pretty Yende now attending the student programme at La Scala.

Cost of the concert is £35 and for an additional £15 you get priority seating, and meet the artists after the concert at a wine and canapes reception at Hotel Le Meridien opposite the church.

Full details at www.diemersfontein.co.za/london-concert.html

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Web Reviews: Fairview, Te Awa, Diemersfontein and Makulu

Over on eBob (Robert Parker's forum) Chaad Thomas thought Fairview's 2005 Pinotage was a great wine.

"Dark garnet, with some ruby reflections. Bright. Bold nose is smoky, gamey, and herbal. My wife says it smells like an Italian [spiced] stable! It's definitely redolent of wild berries and true to that SA funk.

Fresh and lively up front, the wine shows ripe, supple fruit and good weight. It's quite harmonious, with a good balance of earth tones and savor. The fruit is a juicy blend of cherry, raspberry, and cranberry...maybe blackberry.

Nicely knit all the way through the middle, too. The finish is a progressive evolution from the palate, allowing a nice glow of salty, beefiness at the end. Mouthwatering.

In all, this is still a great wine, true to my memory of it a few years back, on release. It's so satisfying and enjoyable to drink! It's not profound,but it is distinctly flavorful and "original" tasting."

In New Zealand, Sue Courtney at Wine of the Weektested a gizmo called SpinWine that is supposed to aerate wine. Sue compared three distinctly different wines, Tempranillo, Montepulciano and Te Awa Hawkes Bay 2007 Pinotage. The SpinWine didn't impress but the Pinotage did.

Concentrated, impenetrable, blackberry red hue. There's a tomato character to the aroma and a hint of a barnyard character too. A full-bodied wine in the mouth with soft tannins and bright, spicy, meaty flavours.

Actually the tannins are quite powerful but the juicy dark berry fruit cuts right them down. Acidity pops up like a speed bump, it's here and then it's gone, and the finish is chocolatey with a hint of liquorice. Fermented with natural yeasts and matured in French oak for 12 months. A fascinating wine - the most fascinating of the three - in that's it so different. Liked it

Amanda at The Travelling Grape 'was so excited' about tasting her very first Pinotage which a friend of a friend had brought back to her in California. It was Diemersfontein Pinotage 2008 .

Wow, a chocolate bomb on my nose right away with dark rich coffee beans. Could this be a Café Mocha lover’s answer? At first it was a bit hot and tickled my nose but that dissipated in time. The front of the palate was quick but the middle, whoa nelly…smooth like velvet with a hint of smoke and leather but the coffee and chocolate certainly stole the show. The finish lingered around a bit and left me yearning for a chocolate covered cherry. Very unique and I encourage each of you to get your hands on some to try.

Ellen at A Life in Reviews loved Makulu Iswithi Pinotage 2006, which she summed up as "Impressive and sustainable - it's like getting buzzed off a Toyota Prius." (?)

Hooray!!! A wine that is inexpensive, scrumptious, and organically/sustainably grown. For the price, it doesn't get much better than this. I haven't had a lot of South African wine, but I'm hooked. This Pinotage is sure to be a crowd pleaser. It's quite sweet and will appeal to the Pinot fans (Iswithi means "sweet" in Zulu), but it's cherry-sweet rather than sickly-sweet, and it's also full-bodied enough to win over Cab and Syrah fans.

Diemersfontein Pinotage by owner David Sonnenberg (video)

David Sonnenberg, owner of Diermersfontein winery in Wellington which pioneered the popular 'coffee'n'chocolate' style of Pinotage, talks about how the wine has changed as it approaches its tenth aniversary.





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Diemersfontein 2009 Pinotage gains a fan....

Laurian Clemence blogs about the recent WineX show in Johannesburg:

Of course I pushed my way through the crowds at the Diemersfontein stall. ‘Step aside Junior, I’m going in.’ They served their latest Pinotage – the 2009 – not available on shelves yet – and I almost had a full on orgasm whilst taking the first sip.
They also served it with a Belgian chocolate. God they’re good.

Seems like she really liked it. Read the full entry here.

24 October is POT Day

POT -- Pinotage on Tap -- takes place on 24 October this year. The popular annual festival celebrates the release of the new vintage of Diemersfontein’s famous coffee’n’chocolate Pinotage.

They’ll be music from aKING, Haydn Gardner's Swing Band and Lonesome Dave Ferguson. Food includes Pinotage friendly canapés, an XX-large chocolate fountain and strawberries, snack-pack goodie bags and ‘some frolicsome Pinotage games’ are promised.

And, of course, barrels and barrels tapped and pouring 2009 Diemersfontein Pinotage.

Price stays the same as last year – see for full details and to book.


(The date this year is a month later than last year: if only they’d put it back an extra week I could have attended, grrrr!)

Coffee & Chocolate Comes to California

A frequent query from America asks where to purchase Diemersfontein’s cult ‘coffee’n’chocolate’ Pinotage and up to now the reply was that it wasn’t available in the USA.

But now it is.

Cape Ardor in San Francisco, California, now stocks the original Diemersfontein Pinotage 2008.

Owner Eric Matkovich tells me “we can ship direct, and have been already, to about 33 states. This unique style of Pinotage is a perfect accompaniment to salmon, roast venison and even chocolate mouse, and seems to be a wonderful introduction for Americans to the world of Pinotage.”

Cape Ardor also lists other Diemersfontein wines, including their premium Pinotage, Carpe Diem 2006.

For more information contact Cape Ardor; details at http://www.cape-ardor.com/

Pinotage in the Blogs....

Andrew Barrow of Spittoon has posted a report of his recent visit to Beyerskloof. He says

While age worthy it is the younger Pinotage single varietals that impressed during the cellar tasting. With ripe, sweetish upfront fruit, good structure and length they have structure and drinkability with the Beyerskloof Reserve Pinotage being singularly impressive.

He also enjoyed the Pinotage Burger! See his report here

Peas on Toast doesn't seem to have heard of the worldwide airport ban on liquids in hand baggage and had two bottles of Diemersfontein Pinotage confiscated, an act that

was nothing short of the most sacrilegous sacrilege on the planet.

Her friends in Istanbul will be disappointed but at least the airport security team had something decent to drink with their dinner.

Diemersfontain Pinotage was the secret ingredient that helped the Cherryflava team in South Africa win first place in their annual potjiekos competition.

We made our famous lamb and mushroom pot, laced with a bottle of DiemersfontainPinotage and fresh organic ingredients.

Mike Rosenberg at Naked Vine released his inner Shatner trying the Golden Kaan range. He paired the Pinotage 2006 and Shiraz 2007 with a spiced lamb dish and found that

the Pinotage was much more interesting. I thought it stood up to the spices in the marinade and the sauce, and the flavors in the wine itself stood out.

And Yoav Shapira was pleasantly surprised by Souther Right's 2007 Pinotage The 2007.

I expected it to be more blunt, since it's so young. But it was very smooth.
Almost too smooth.

The People Vote for the People's Pinotage

Diemersfontein’s coffee and chocolate Pinotage scored a resounding hat trick of victories at major wine shows in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg during 2008.

The public was asked to name the best red wine on show at WineX Cape Town, WineX Johannesburg and at the Mercury Wine Week in Durban, and in each case the majority chose Diemersfontein Pinotage. The wine was also the biggest seller by volume at WineX Johannesburg, where fans backed their votes with their wallets.

WineX director Michael Fridjhon said the Best Wine on Show has become “a meaningful barometer of the style and variety most sought after by the country’s premium wine consumer”.

“That a discerning set of wine consumers in our three biggest cities have rated our Pinotage ‘the best Red Wine’ is the most wonderful accolade that all of us in the team at Diemersfontein could wish for,” says David Sonnenberg, the third generation owner and founder of Diemersfontein wines.

“It is my impression that Winex and Mercury patrons – while certainly there to have a good time - are also pre-occupied with tasting a large range of wines in order to discover and benchmark their favourite varietals and blends from among the SA wine industry’s diverse and excellent Estates. So we are especially appreciative of the public’s endorsement in these instances.”

The popular support for the Diemersfontein Pinotage has surged since it was first produced in 2001 and it has been dubbed “The People’s Pinotage” by respected wine writer Neil Pendock after he conducted a consumer survey.

Diemersfontein's Pinotageis the only South African wine to have its own birthday party. Every year Diemersfontein successfully hosts Pinotage on Tap events – considered to be the winelands’ favourite party - in the Cape and Gauteng to celebrate the release of a new vintage in the company of the wine’s ever-growing legion of fans.

“So many customers write to us very generously and lyrically about the wine – from very experienced and regular wine drinkers to those just starting out on the wine journey. It appears to have bridged many people into a love of red wine and Pinotage in particular. We are delighted that our wines seem to give so many South Africans a lot of pleasure,” says Sonnenberg. And not just South African's -- the wine has a cult following in the UK where it is stocked by Waitrose and woe betide them when they run out.

To celebrate the trio of victories, Diemersfontein is planning a series of fun food and wine evenings across the country. The events will give fans the opportunity to enjoy the wine with exceptional food produced by some of South Africa’s leading chefs

Quote of the Month - September

"I just love deep, meaty, full wines … wines that you’d have with red meat.

There was a great wine that I had when filming Goodbye Bafana in South Africa, a Diemersfontein Pinotage, which had an amazing clove finish to it. I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted clove in a glass before. I loved it so much that I ordered a case the next day and had it shipped back to the States. It never arrived, so somebody out there is enjoying it. [Laughs.]

I’ve had trouble finding a South African Pinotage here in Los Angeles, although I’ve found other South African wines."

Actor Dennis Haysbert, who has been in films (Breach, Jarhead, Far From Heaven) and television (24, The Unit), and recently played South African president Nelson Mandela in the feature film Goodbye Bafana, being interviewed by Betsy Model in Wine Spectator 4 September 2008

Pinotage on Tap in Plettenberg

Diemersfontein are staging one of their popular Pinotage on Tap events at Plettenberg Bay on Sunday 29th June at the Beacon Island Timeshare Resort.


Diemersfontein say that their "Pinotage 2007 - the original ‘the coffee and chocolate’ Pinotage will be flowing from barrels and matched with delicious food and dark chocolate fountains. Staged on the lawns overlooking the sea and sands of Plettenberg Bay, Pinotage on Tap will offer ticket-holders a fun-filled day with cases of Pinotage to be won by taking part in Pinotage challenges and adding to the mood of the event, revelers will be treated to a musical line up involving local jazz and rock bands as well as Plush - the popular band from Cape Town."


Full details and online booking at the Diemersfontein website here


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Bertus Fourie leaves KWV for VdV

Bertus Fourie

Bertus Fourie leaves KWV today to take up the position of managing director at Val de Vie Wines from 1 May 2008. Bertus, who gained the nickname 'Starbucks' in appreciation of his pioneering the coffee and chocolate Pinotage when he was winemaker at Diemersfontein, joined KWV in 2005 as Senior Winemaker and launched KWV's Cafe Culture - a coffee and chocolate Pinotage - last year.

Bertus's younger brother, Martin Fourie, is winemaker at Val de Vie and the two are looking forward to working together.

Val de Vie is a lifestyle residential estate with a strong focus on wine and polo. Most of the existing vineyards have been replanted with Rhone varieties as these are considered best suited to the area. The cellar building dates from 1825 and houses a 100-ton cellar solely for the Rhone varieties. But plans for a bigger Pinotage-only cellar facility are underway.

Martin Venter, developer of Val de Vie Lifestyle Estate, said "We view the appointment of Bertus Fourie as managing director of Val de Vie Wines (Pty) Ltd as an important part of the implementation of our marketing and branding strategy for Val de Vie Wines that coincides with the lifestyle brand of Val de Vie Lifestyle Estate. Interestingly, it was the Coffee-style Pinotage that originally sparked our friendship. It is the friendliest wine that I have ever enjoyed, and all my friends and colleagues love it as well. Like Bertus said at several occasions: 'Selling wine is all about relationships', and what a better way to start any relationship than with this wine."

So will there be a Val de Vie mocha Pinotage? Wait and see......

The Pinotage Club met Bertus Fourie last month, click here for the report.

Times blasts stinky SA Wines - Diemersfontein Pinotage Excepted

Not everyone was impressed by the recent South Africa Mega Tasting in London. Jane McQuitty writing in todays Times newspaper says “South Africa has yet to tame its peculiar, savage, burnt rubber and dirt odour. Other commentators either fail to take offence, or euphemistically dismiss the smell and taste as “smoky”, “earthy” or “tarry”. She says she blind tasted the “country’s flagship reds, priced from £16 to £40 a bottle and mostly Bordeaux-inspired blends, and half of them displayed this unpleasant taint.”

We often read that burnt rubber is a descriptor of Pinotage, but McQuitty says that it is nothing to do with the variety, “though this variety frequently suffers from the pong”, which is “associated either with unacceptably high yields, virused vines, a pH-related bacterial infection, or that it’s just what occurs during a typical Cape red wine ferment and maceration session.”

Although she says Pinotage has a “weird, jammy, nail varnish scent” Diemersfontein is one of her favourite South African wines, and is one of only four wines she recommends, “Diemersfontein’s masterly 2006 Pinotage (£7.99), with its sweet, burnt, heavy, peppery fruit,” is ideal for a game casserole.

Full article is at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article2729852.ece

Café Culture Coffee Pinotage Launched

KWV today launched a new Pinotage under the brand Café Culture – and the name suggests they are aiming at the market for coffee-toned Pinotages pioneered by Diemersfontein with its cult ‘coffee & chocolate’ Pinotage. Not that KWV is using the ‘c’ word – oh dear me no – please note that it is ‘mocha’.

KWV say “Café Culture is a new Pinotage wine, produced in an innovative style and presented in a trendy packaging that mirrors its vibrant target market perfectly. Café Culture is a brand that has been specially created for trendy, upmarket enjoyment. It has an air of the avant-garde and bohemian. It is associated with debate and banter. It is the Café Culture - a lively, vibey social spirit with a sense of adventure and exclusivity...even decadence. The modern, understated label emphasises the social nature of the wine, and recalls the smart café society of the Twenties and Thirties.”

The wine was crafted by winemaker Bertus Fourie who says the wine “is the most controversial style of Pinotage wine in the world. Most people crave it. It does not speak of 'terroir' as oak plays the dominant role. This accounts for its mocha and chocolate flavours – the richness of coffee beans, the smoothness of creamy chocolate and the freshness of ripe fruit. ”

Prior to taking up his post of Senior Winemaker at KWV, Bertus Fourie was the winemaker at Diemersfontein responsible for creating their innovative popular coffee'n'chocolate Pinotage. In a prescient item for South African magazine ‘Grape’, diarist ‘The Widow’ wrote in November 2005 that KWV were looking for ways of “making their red wines taste of coffee. 'Go out and hire Bertus ‘Starbucks’ Fourie at any price' was the directorial demand!”

The 2007 vintage wine (although the bottle image on the KWV site says 2006 – I wonder what happened to that wine) was harvested and underwent wood maturation (where it presumably picked up its coffee mocha flavours from the toasted oak) for 3 months before being blended and bottled July 2007. It has a hefty 14% abv and is recommended for drinking on its own or as an accompaniment to meat and pasta dishes as well as chocolate and berry desserts.


I like to think of myself as ‘trendy’ and ‘upmarket’ (I’m not so certain about ‘vibrant’ but ‘decadent’ probably fits) and so I look forward to tasting it…..