Durbanville Hills Pinotage is the Star

Durbanville Hills cellarmaster Martin Moore has been travelling through Canada and the United States promoting his wines. He writes in his current newsletter:

"On the visit to North America the Pinotage was the star of the show, and I found myself sharing many a glass of it over extended lunches with wine writers before rushing to even longer dinners with agents and clients. Agents and their customers often tell us our Pinotage is very different from what is usually produced from this cultivar."

He says it's the cool climate environment in the Durbanville hills that brings out the Pinot Noir heritage resulting in more strawberry and blackberry flavours coming to the fore.

Lease a Stormhoek Block

If owning a Stormhoek vine isn't enough, now you can lease a block of 200 of Stormhoek's vines and have all the wine they produce delivered to you in personally labelled and numbered bottles.

Stormhoek have teamed up with Barrington's International Vine Leasing Ltd to offer the benefits of owning (part of) a vineyard without having to do all the hard work such as pruning, weeding and spraying. Not to mention staying up all night during vintage time to press down the cap.

With Christmas coming fast, its a present idea for the Pinotage lover who has everything.





Stormhoek's Guava Block vineyard

Avondale Pinotage - The Trouble Wine

Pinotage came out top at a blind tasting of the Williamsburg chapter of the American Wine Society last month.

Debra Gordon writes in Virginia's Newport News "We tasted four reds blind, so we didn't know what they were or how much they cost. When the bags the votes were tallied, the classic South African varietal — Pinotage — came out a clear winner.We love Pinotage. It has a flavor unlike any other I've tasted — funky, complex, yet amazingly fruity. Turns out the rest of our group loved it, too.

The 2006 Pinotage ($14) we tasted came from Avondale, an organic winery located in the Paarl region.

One member described it as 'the trouble wine,' as in: 'the wine that will get you in trouble because you want to keep drinking glass after glass.'"

Wine Society's New Pinotage

The UK's Wine Society has a new Cape red, and this time it is Pinotage.

The Society's wine-buyer Joanna Locke MW says the wine is an "unusually fresh-tasting, modern Pinotage, which happens to be made from organic grapes, to enjoy while it is young and fruity, or later when its part pinot noir parentage will develop spicier flavours. Try it with Asian foods."

The wine inside comes from 40 year old vines and was made by Bon Cap Organic Winery in Roberston. It is actually their second wine range, 'The Ruins', labelled especially for the Wine Society.

The label was designed by Tanya Tanaka of the Slade School of Fine Art. She says "I was inspired by maps of the regions and the idea of an Old World product in a New World environment."

I last visited Bon Cap in February 2008; my report is here.

October Newsletter

October's newsletter has been emailed out. You can download it by clicking on the front cover image, left.

To be placed on the newsletter mailing list send an email to peter (at) pinotage (dot) org

Lovingston - Outside the Bordeaux Spectrum

Lovingston was the first winery I visited on my trip last month to Virginia, USA. The winery is in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and built into a hillside so they can use gravity feed. They make wines on a small scale and they don't pump-overs because they don't want to mechanically handle the wine.



Lovingston have been making Pinotage from vineyard they have leased for a few years and have been so pleased with the results that they have now planted their own Pinotage vineyard on a ridge behind the winery. "We're giving it a shot," says winemaker Riaan Rossouw, "we're very enthusiastic about it. We don't mind at all being outside the Bordeaux spectrum."



This first short video was taken in that new vineyard with its tremendous views. Owner Ed Puckett is on the vehicle and winemaker Riaan Rossouw tells us about growing Pinotage in Virginia and how he doen't mind being outside the Bordeaux spectrum

Then we are in the winery where Riaan discusses making Pinotage in Virginia

Upstairs Ed Puckett tells about how he constructed the winery and how they handle the grapes.

As this clip ends he reveals that they remove the grape seeds during fermentation. I have not previously heard of such a practise, but in Virginia I am told that it is fairly common because the grapes do not usually get to completely full ripeness, and so in the last clip Riaan tells how they remove the seeds.

As you can see, everyone at Lovingston has quality to the forefront, and it shows in their wines.

Many thanks to everyone at Lovingston for showing The Pinotage Club around your winery and vineyards. The movies were taken with my new really neat Flip Mino camera.

Spex Selex -- Simonsig

Simonsig Pinotage 2004 was chosen as Wine Spectator Online editors Daily Pick for 30 September 2008


James Molesworth says "This has a slightly jammy core of plum and blueberry fruit, with notes of briar, black licorice and coffee. The grape's rustic persona lurks in the background too, with a burly edge on the finish. Drink now through 2009. 5,000 cases made. (87 points, $14) "

Simonsig make two Pinotages. This one is unwooded whereas the 'Redhill' is aged 16 months in oak barrels. The Spex reviewed the Redhill 2004 vintage 18 months ago in March 2007.
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We Can't Meet Demand for Café Culture -- says KWV

Café Culture, launched just one year ago in September 2007, has proved to be a runaway success.



Demand for the wine is so great, especially in the Far East, that KWV CEO Thys Loubser told South Africa's Business Report that "we cannot get enough".



Therefore he has ordered that production of the mocha 'n' chocolate accented Pinotage be increased to exceed one million litres.

Francois Naude launches his own wine

When Francois Naude stepped down as winemaker at L’Avenir Estate on its sale to Laroche he told me that he was looking forward to not having the day to day responsibility, the night shifts and the call-outs that winemaking involves. As a consultant he would advise and let others carry the burden.

But winemaking is in his blood and he has now started a new venture Le Vin de Françoise, whose first wine – a Pinotage -- sold out its entire production within a few hours*.

Marketing was unusual. Potential buyers were invited to a black-tie function where the Pinotage was auctioned. 200 cases were sold realising an average price of 250R a bottle (about £15.20 or $26.30). Well known Johannesburg steak house owner Alan Pick took home 60 cases of Le Vin de Françoise Pinotage 2007.

Francois is well known for Pinotage. “I am a huge Pinotage fan and was lucky enough to have seven of the nine wines I entered for the ABSA Top 10 Pinotage Competition make the final line up. Pinotage is in my blood, like family, and it was only natural that our first product should be a Pinotage”, he said

Le Vin de Françoise Pinotage 2007 is a blend of barrel selected wines from wineries where Francois has been consulting: Delheim, Hartenberg, Lanzerac, L’Avenir and Neil Ellis.

Packing is special. The bottle is a reproduction of the original Bordeaux bottle used in 1855 The twelve bottle wooden cases that the wine comes in are custom made, stackable and sturdy, and the label a unique work of art from design studio Haumann Smal.

“We wanted to create a “magic” product. A product that would secure the first step for the brand to grow and prosper into something the generations that follow can be proud of” added Francois.

The icon that was used on the label is a wing nut, symbolising the clasping together of family ideals, with the different wines from a variety of terroirs that created this unique wine. Francois also jokingly added that the wing nuts look a little bit like his ears!


* Except for three more cases of the wine were kept back for a public on-line action to benefit The Faith Fund charity. You can place your bid at http://www.levindefrancois.com/ and three cases kept for Francois' own use. In total, just 206 cases of the 2007 vintage was made.

Beyerskloof wins IWSC Trophy

I've written before about the Beyers Truter Reserve own label made for UK supermarket Tesco. I have bought a goodly number of them myself, and by co-incidence opened a bottle of the 2006 last night.

I'm not the only fan though --- the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2008 recently announced that they'd awarded the KWV Trophy for Pinotage to Beyerskloof for their Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage 2006.

7000 wines from more than 70 countries were entered into the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2008, the premier competition of its kind in the world, held in London . Amongst the Trophies being announced 15 were open to wines from anywhere in the world. South Africa picked up five trophies and it is remarkable that four of the trophies were won by producers that come from within a radius of ten kilometres. The other three, some from wineries that have appeared on these pages for their Pinotages, are The Mission Hill Family Estate Trophy for Chardonnay presented to Delheim Wines for their Delheim Chardonnay Sur Lie 2007.The Spier Trophy for Merlot presented to Hartenberg for their Hartenberg Merlot 2005. The Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for Blended Red Wine presented to Kanonkop Wine Estate for their Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2003.

Pictured left to right are Beyers Truter (Beyerskloof), Abrie Beeslaar (Kanonkop), Brenda van Niekerk (Delheim) and Carl Schultz (Hartenberg).

Pump-overs give lower colour and anti-oxidents

Results of a four year study into whether the total antioxidant capacity (TAC), colour and phenolic composition of Pinotage wines are affected by growing methods and locations and winemaking practises have been published.

The research by Dalene de Beer, Elizabeth Joubert & Johan Marais into vintages from 2000 to 2003 doesn’t appear to come to any firm conclusions, except that wines from warmer areas and those that underwent the pumping of juice over skin caps gave wines with the lowest TAC and colour saturation.

The full report in Afrikaans is in the magazines August issue and an English version can be read on the Wynboer site at http://www.wynboer.co.za/recentarticles/200808pinotage.php3

Everybody Loves Grayhaven's Virginia Pinotage

I have been travelling in Virginia, USA visiting three wineries that make Pinotage wines. In the video above I ask Deon Abrams, who is Grayhaven Winery's winemaker and co-owner, about his Pinotage. Deon takes grapes from an established nearby vineyard while he grows and propagates enough of his own Pinotage. As we hear, he can't meet demand and last year needed to augment his Virginia grapes with some brought from California. Deon says that these grapes come in a refrigerated truck in a a few days.

In the video below we look at his own young Pinotage vines in the adjoining vineyard.

Deon was busy in the middle of the vintage. There was a trailer full of sweet Chambourcin grapes waiting his attention in the winery behind the tasting counter, and we greatly appreciate him taking time out to show us around his winery and vineyards.

Deon is South African by birth. He married Max Peple whose parents had bought this farm as a retirement hobby. When the farm got too much for them Max and Deon gave up their high-flying jobs in New York City to take over running the winery.

For some years Grahaven has been running a hugely succesful South Africa Festival at the farm. This year more than 4000 people, including the South African Ambassador, came to taste South African food and wines. Deon imports South African necessities such as Mrs Balls Chutney for the festival and for sale in the tasting room.

Worth a visit -- the winery is about 30 minutes from Charlottesville.

"Pinotage is too Cheap and too young"

Pinotage is too cheap and too young, says Neil Pendock in his blog at South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper.

After attending a tasting of Stellenzicht's 'Golden Triangle' Pinotages going back to 1998 he found that "one thing was clear: Pinotage improves with age. 2006 is current release (a reasonable R65 a bottle) but on the evidence of this vertical tasting, should be left to its own devices for a decade to develop complexity."

"for Pinotage to ever compete on a level playing field of marketing spend and consumer attention, the price gap will have to be addressed. Do producers lack confidence in Pinotage that it must trade at a substantial discount? Lower retail prices for Pinotage when compared to Cabernet and Shiraz make a telling point," he says.

Neil's grand idea is that a Pinotage Bank be established by ABSA, the sponsors of the Top 10 Competition. The Bank would buy up supplies of Top 10 winning wines in order to age them for at least a decade before releasing them for sale. This was restaurants and wine lovers would have access to matured Pinotage.

It was the oldest of the Stellenzicht Pinotages that inspired Neil. The 1998 vintage "was pure Burgundy with barnyard, bruised strawberries and biltong (and that was just the “b”s) while the ’99 was a subtle symphony of elegance and finesse."

But I thought the 2006 was drinking pretty darn good when I had it earlier this year - my review here.


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Cape Blends and Pinotages at 2008 CWG Auction

Cape Winemakers Guild annually auctions rare small production special wines made by their members. This year’s auction, the 23rd, will be on Saturday 27 September 2008 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.


Niels Verburg, owner/winemaker of Luddite, was in London last week showing the wines.

Of interest to Pinotage fans are Cape Blends from Danie Steytler of Kaapzicht Estate and Beyers Truter of Beyerskloof, who also has a varietal Pinotage in the auction. These three were available to taste. Not available for tasting, but in the auction is a mature CWG Pinotage last auctioned in 2001. This is Hidden Valley CWG Pinotage 2000 made by Jeremy Walker of Grangehurst


It was interesting to compare two Cape Blends from recognised masters of the style.

Kaapzicht Cape Blend Auction Reserve 2006 (Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Pinotage 30%, Merlot 20%) WO Bottelary, 14.29%abv. Danie says the three cultivars were vinified separately, then the best tanks went to new French oak barrels sourced from three different coopers for 24 months. The best barrels were selected for blending for this wine of which 1320 bottles were made. 50 cases of 6 are in the auction. Danie reckons it needs at least 4-6 years “for the treasures to be revealed.”

I found dense fruit in this tight firm tannic wine that cried out for decanting. I found it acidic on the finish

Beyerskloof Cape Blend 2006 (Pinotage 41%, Shiraz 41%, Cabernet Sauvignon 9%,Merlot 9%) WO Stellenbosch, 14.47%abv. This is a barrel selection from wine aged 18 months in new French oak. 3318 bottles were made, of which 66 boxes of 6 are in the auction.

This is more approachable, with bright sweet black fruits. It feels light bodied and a bit dusty, and sharp on the finish.

I was disappointed with the finish of both wines which seemed overly acidic. I’m pushed to say which I prefer: for immediate drinking I’d choose the Beyerskloof but think both are made for the long haul when that acidity will have subdued.


Beyerskloof Pinotage 2006
WO Stellenbosch 14.74%abv.


Beyers Truter says that these wines came from pre-selected blocks, aged for 18 months in two-thirds new French oak barrels, and then barrel selected for CWG.

Soft and gentle with ripe dusty plum and blackberry fruit flavours, layers of complex fruits leading down to a framework of structured tannins and balanced fruit acids. Perfect.

The 2006 vintage has been, in my opinion, Beyerskloofs best. The basic white label Pinotage is a great everyday wine - and marvellous with a take away from the Indian restaurant, the Tesoc's own label Reserve is excellent and the black label Reserve is superb. Two more 2006, another Reserve bottling and one named Diesel (in remembrance of a sadly missed dog) both won in last months Top 10.

And for the future the 2007 white label is now in my local shops and tastes great also.

What kinds of wine go well with yak?

"So what kinds of wine go well with yak?" was the question asked by Vermont Yak Company.

They asked Joerg Klauck of importers Vermont Wine Merchants and he had a good idea! See the video here .

Ok, Ok, you've already guessed Pinotage was the answer, but note how Joerg is careful to recommend avoiding the cheapest versions....

And the suggested wine? "It proved phenomenal," they said.


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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

Loads of free Pinotage at Sing Faith

The first Sing Faith Concert will be held on 6 September at the Hugo Lembrecht Auditorium in Parow.

Guests can expect an evening of entertainment and relaxation.

Performers are giving their services free in aid of the charity FAITH (Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and Interrelated Help).

FAITH is the charity founded by Pinotage King Beyers Truter who says that "it will be a great night and there will be loads of free Pinotage flowing through the music notes."

Tickets from Computicket includes free wine, a finger-buffet and tea & coffee. More information from Ina Viljoen at 083 463 4090.

See the flyer by clicking here

Truter's Two Times Top 10 Triumph !

History was made today when Beyerskloof’s owner and winemaker Beyers Truter accepted the Top 10 prize twice. For the first time in the competition’s history two wines entered from the same winery had both been selected for the ABSA Pinotage Top 10 Competition.


Truter stepped up to accept two winner's awards at a ceremony held earlier today, 27 August, at Neethlingshof Estate near Stellenbosch.


The 2008 winning wines are :-

Anura Pinotage 2007
Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2006
Beyerskloof Reserve Pinotage 2006
Cloof Pinotage 2005
DeWaal Top of the Hill Pinotage 2006
Fairview Primo Pinotage 2007
Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage 2004
Simonsig Red Hill Pinotage 2006
Stellenzicht Cellarmaster’s Release Pinotage 2005
Tukulu Pinotage 2006


All but three of this years winners had won previously. "We have seen the quality of wines in the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition improve year-on-year and what is more encouraging is that new winemakers are continuously joining the competition. Experience, consistency, commitment and focus can however never be replaced and this year we have seen a number of the more experienced winemakers come out on top,” said Robert Emslie, Executive Director with sponsor Absa Corporate & Business Bank at the awards ceremony on 27 August 2008.

Beyerskloof historic winners are Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2006 and Beyerskloof Reserve Pinotage 2006. They are the third and fourth wins for the Beyerskloof label, and winemaker Beyers Truter eighth and ninth Top 10 wines, having previously won seven times when winemaker at Kanonkop.

Guy Webber’s Stellenzicht wins for the fourth consecutive year with his sixth Top 10 wine.

Daniël de Waal of Uiterwyk Estate gains his sixth win with the Top of the Hill, the world oldest Pinotage vineyard, after a break of four years.

It is a fifth Top 10 win in nine years for Tukulu, the flagship black empowerment brand, this time with winemaker Samuel Viljoen

Simonsig Estate have a second consecutive wine with their Red Hill Pinotage 2006. It is their fourth winning wine in eight years.

Pierre Wahl at Rijk’s Private Cellar produced their fourth winning wine in eight years.

First time winners are

Anura 2007, with winemakers Carla Pauw and Johnnie Calitz

Cloof 2005 whose winemaker is Christopher van Dieren

Fairview Primo 2007 with winemaker Anthony de Jager.


Five of the 2008 Absa Top 10 Pinotage winners are from the 2006 vintage, two from the 2007 vintage, two from the 2005 vintage and one from the 2004 vintage. Five of the winning wines are from the Stellenbosch district, two from Darling and one each from Paarl, Tulbagh and the Coastal region. It is only the second time that wines from more than 3 vintages reached the Top 10.




The 10 runners up are
Conradie Barrel Selection Reserve 2007
Deetlefs Oak Matured 2007
Groot Constantia 2006
Môreson 2007
Raka 2007
Roland’s Reserve 2006
Spier Private Collection 2005
Wamakersvallei La Cave 2006
Welbedacht 2006
Windmeul Reserve 2007


Presentation packages of the 2008 Absa Top 10 Pinotage wines will soon be available for sale in South Africa from the Wine-of-the-Month-Club.

Tel. 021-6578100.
E-mail: wineclub@wineofthemonth.co.za





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Simonsig's Brut Rosé renamed Kaapse Vonkel Rosé

Simonsig's popular Pinotage based Brut Rosé methode champenoise sparkler is changing its name.

In future it will be Kaapse Vonkel Rosé, bringing it into line with their famous white Kaapse Vonkel .

Kaapse Vonkel means Cape Sparkle and Kaapse Vonkel was the first methode champenoise wine to be made in South Africa.

2008 vintage is the 40th anniversary of Simonsig wines and it is looking good.

"Our Pinotage yields were higher, with all the different vineyards producing top-notch wines which already flaunt more elegance and finesse than their predecessors," says Cellarmaster Johan Malan .

Mature Pinotage Parcels Released by Bergkelder

Mature Pinotages from Durbanville Hills, Fleur du Cap, Jacobsdal, Tukulu and Zonnebloem have just been released by the Bergkelder Vinoteque.

The oldest is a 1996 from Jacobsdal. These wines have been stored in the Bergkelder (literally Mountain Cellar which are cellars dug deep into a hill in Stellenbosch) until they reached maturity and optimum drinking time so they are now readyto be enjoyed.

An order form with details and prices, which include delivery anywhere in South Africa, is here http://www.vinoteque.co.za/pdf/specialrelease.pdf