Pinotage = Pinot Noir x Sancerre?

I can't resist mentioning another vidcast merchant. Vinappris, based in Birmingham, UK, sell wine through their satellite TV channel and simulcast broadcast on their website. (pictured right Managing Director/Presenter Steve Bennett)

Vinappris currently list the following Pinotages - False Bay 2006 (£7) Spier Private Collection 2004 (£15) Keerweder Estate 2003 (£17) and Graham Beck Old Road 2001 (£19).

The shows are professionally put together, cutting between studio presenters tasting and talking about the wines and filmed inserts from vineyards and wineries around the world.

But on their website background country information they state:

"South Africa also holds an international attention seeker, pinotage, the indigenous grape variety to this picturesque country. Found nowhere else on earth it creates some fantastic well balanced reds. Pinotage is a cross between two different grape varieties, moulding and creating the best of both worlds. Pinot Noir and Sancerre, Pinot Noir offers the delicate flavours of red berry’s, strawberry, raspberry, an elegant wine which is beautifully complex. Sancerre offers body and strength and even a little spice. Combined, these two grape varieties move into new territory, creating a world class grape known as pinotage. "

I cannot disagree with their conclusion, but can only repeat what I said here - its time to stop talking about Pinotages parentage -- even when you can get it correct.

(Update on 30 April -- Following the comment by Julian Twaites, Head of Purchasing at Vinappris, to this item, the Vinappris site has been updated and all references to Pinotage parentage has been removed)

Kanonkop - "Polished Pinotage"

Gary Vaynerchuk (pictured right) of WineLibraryTV.com isn’t a big Pinotage fan, but he says of Kanonkop Pinotage 2004 "This wine is rocking".

In his 218th on-line video tasting 'vidcast', first shown on 17 April, he features South Africa, with two whites and two reds including the Kanonkop.

Gary says of it "Dark colour. Hint of banana on nose (really cool!) surrounded by amount of rusty old beer cans, rusty nail, rusty aluminium. Nose now getting really outrageous tremendous banana. This is a clean cut, polished Pinotage.

I like this wine, beautiful red cabbage profile, oil & vinegar & olives. Bananas are jumping, (I Iove bananas, structured like Bordeaux, terroir driven, this is essential class Pinotage. Comes from granite soil, you’re getting some of this. Its really polished, but young, need another three years. Now getting dark liquorice flavour, gets olive & smoky on finish.

I highly recommend it, I’m giving it 91 points. If you like extremely well polished and intriguing wines, seek this bottle out.

See Gary nose, taste and enthuse about Kanonkop Pinotage 2004 by clicking on the image below:

The other wines were

• Black Rock White 2004


• Tokara Chardonnay 2004


• Rustenberg John X Merriman 2003 - corked.

See the entire vidcast at http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/04/17/south-african-wines-episode-218/

Martin Meinert Makes Pinotage - Video

Martin Meinert is caught on video in mid-harvest. He is making Pinotage and trying to avoid funkiness.





In the second part, Martin discussed some of the challenges Pinotage presents, including excess malic acids, and how he tackles them.




If the images above from YouTube fail to appear, the videos can also be seen by clicking here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

See www.winefilms.co.za/ for the rest of the harvest 2007 film reports plus others focusing on individual wine farms