Seance with Smoking Gun

It wasn’t meant to be a séance, but after I poured Soljans Estate Gisborne 1998 (New Zealand) Pinotage we found ourselves trying to raise the ghost of a wine that was long past it*.

It was a thin pale brown-red colour. There was a faint taste of raspberries and a great deal of acidity with a sour finish. Not pleasant at all, so we turned to another 1998 wine, Groenkloof (now Darling Cellars) made by Abé Beukes, which was a Top 10 winner in 1999. Deeper colour, browning edge, there’s some mintiness with strawberry and Victoria plum fruit flavours but the fruit is fading fast in the glass even as we sip, and the séance can’t bring it back. We can’t face a second glass.


So I grab a wine from the ready rack. To the rescue comes The Wine Society Exhibition Pinotage 2003 (£8.95). This was made by Francois Naudé at L’Avenir Estate from mostly his younger vines (18 & 23 yo) and matured in used barrels to give a lighter fruitier style. This had everything we could want: lots of life and punchy blackberry flavours with tobacco leaf.


With the séance over, the inquest started. Who killed Soljans and Groenkloof? The smoking gun was to hand; I could see the culprit’s face reflected in the glass. It was me. I had kept the wines too long.


I have a temperature controlled cellar,I stick wines away to mature and I sometimes leave them too long. The Soljans was dead – but the Groenkloof was of interest to devotees of mature wines. Problem is my tastes have changed. I used to like old wines but I am finding that they hold less attraction now. As I get older, I prefer more youthful wines.

I’ll be going through my Cellartracker records to find my other oldies that need opening.





*Interesting to note the upward trend in alcohol levels; both the 1998 wines were 13% alcohol by volume while the 2003 wine was 14.5%abv, and to be fair, Soljans back label did say that it was an ideal 'drink young' wine.

Pink Pinotage

Pink wine is now fashionable thanks, apparently, to US rappers taking a fancy to expensive Rose Champagnes. Now us men can at last feel comfortablewith a glass of pink.


And Pinotage makes a great, brightly coloured, pink. Its naturally sweet mouthfeel means wine makers can produce a dry wine that tastes good on its own and slips down easily on a hot summers day.

WoSA organised a pink wine tasting stand at the London International Wine & Spirit Fair this year and I was pleased to see August Pepe was staffing it. August is the welcoming face in Delheim's tasting cellar and leads the winery tours. And it is appropriate Delheim was represented as they were one of the first Cape exponents of pink wines and the pioneer of pink Pinotage, making their first one in 1976.

August's stand was covered in pink bottles and I noticed Pinotages from Swartland Winery, L'Avenir and of course Delheim.

"So what do you think of the Delheim Rose, August?" I ask.

He takes a mouthful and ponders.

"Excellent -- it is the best!", is his verdict.

L'Avenir on Course

It is steady as she goes at L’Avenir in Stellenbosch. The seven times winner of the Pinotage Top 10 competition is now under the ownership of Michel Laroche and the focus will remain on Pinotage and Chenin Blanc. “We don’t intend to change a winning formula,” Tinus Els (pictured left) told me. Tinus has been winemaker/viticulturist and managing L’Avenir since Francois Naude retired in 2005. “Francois keeps in touch," said Tinus, "he comes in consulting once a week”

Since L’Avenir joined the Laroche family of wineries and thus gained the benefit of their international distribution network, worldwide demand for their Pinotage has soared by 50%. “I am installing drip irrigation,” said Tinus, “because we cannot afford anymore to lose half our crop due to heat waves.” To help meet popular demand a new range, Pinotage by L’Avenir, produced from grapes sourced from other farms, will be introduced,.

And the neighbouring Sentinel farm has been acquired. Sentinels' distinctive castle building that looks down on the R44 just north of Stellenbosch will eventually become – after remodelling – the L’Avenir tasting room and function centre.

Tinus is currently in the midst of the vintage (picture right – Tinus checking grape ripeness). Pinotage was picked two weeks early this year. It is fermenting, and Tinus has high expectations for this, his second vintage at L’Avenir. He is also pleased with the 2006 vintage nearing the end of its time in barrels. Soon he will be choosing the barrels intended for the premium Grand Vin Pinotage (previously Reserve).

It will be a difficult task, for I’d be happy to see any one of the barrels of 2006 Pinotages I tasted from this week to be selected. I'd like to thank Tinus for letting me taste the new vintage and maturing cellar wines and allowing me to accompany him to the vineyards at such a busy time.