WOTM Delheim Bush Vine Barrel Selection 2007 Pinotage

My Wine of the Month for July is my last bottle of Delheim Bush Vine Barrel Selection Pinotage 2007.

 Just four 225 litre barrels (new French oak, aged for 13 months) were selected for this special bottling, so that’s no more than 1,200 bottles or 100 cases produced. I don’t know if this was available anywhere else than the winery where it cost 120 Rand in 2009, about twice the cost of the standard bottling.

 

I accounted for case of it myself when I was in the Cape in 2009 and also brought a few bottles home of which this was the last. We drank most of them in Delheim’s glorious garden restaurant with friends.

 One was American author Tom Mullen who later wrote about lunching at Delheim in his book Wine and Work - People Loving Life

“There weaver birds live in a huge oak tree on acres of land coated by pine trees and fynbos vegetation. We sit on a porch overlooking lush greenery with a view of distant Table Mountain. While drinking a glass of Pinotage I eat ostrich meatballs with organic cabbage, then follow that with a dessert of Pinotage ice cream – the color of blue berries.”

 

I remember how lush the wine was then, how exciting and vibrant with rich plum and berry fruit flavours and a spiciness that made your mouth water in anticipation of the next sip. This wine is now starting to show signs of aging, with the upfront fruit receding uncovering more complexity, and it’d be interesting to see how it would develop, but I’ve no regrets because I have so loved drinking this wine.  

 

 

Pinotage Recipe Competition

 

 

I was taken with Christiaan Steyn’s recipe for Ostrich skewers with Pinotage Onion Marmalade and Sweetcorn soufflé, particularly his instruction at the end of the second sentence

Start a coal fire.

Boil the kettle, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, clean the sweet corns, pour your first glass of Pinotage.

Christiaan blogs about food at TASTE BUDS and his recipe for Karoo Tapas is an entry in a competition run by South African supermarket chain Pick’n’Pay. They list a set of ingredients and challenge food bloggers to produce a meal from them.

The current challenge is to use traditional South African ingredients: DrostdyHof Pinotage, Ostrich sausage, maize meal, Waterblommetijes (water lily flowers – a local delicacy), Chutney and mixed dried fruit. One of the ingredients may be omitted and contestants are allowed to add some, but part of the meal must be cooked over coals.

 

Christiaan’s recipe is here and you are invited to vote for it by pressing the green button.

The competition score board with links to all recipes entered is here. As far as I can see, Christiaan is the only one who had the very good sense to enjoy the Pinotage he didn't use in the recipe while cooking.

 

Image (c) Copyright Christiaan Steyn at  TASTE BUDS and used with his permission.

 

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Kanonkop launch red Kadette Pinotage

Kanonkop are launching a new varietal red Pinotage under their Kadette label with the 2012 vintage due for release sometime in next two or three months. The Kadette label, named in homage to Bordeaux’s Ch Mouton-Rothschild ‘Mouton Cadet’ was originally a blend of wines that didn’t make it into Kanonkop’s main labels.

As demand for Kadette grew output could only be increased by using bought in grapes. The 2010 vintage saw a Kadette rosé made from Pinotage join the lineup, and now, with the 2012 vintage a red Pinotage.

The red Kadette Pinotage is made and barrel matured for 14 months at Kanonkop and will cost between 5 and 10% more than the Kadette Red.

My thinking  is that Kadette is now the name for Kanonkop’s non-estate  wines, i.e. those made from grapes not grown on the estate.

However I can see myself ordering Kanonkop Pinotage from a restaurant winelist and getting Kadette while being charged the Estate wine price, as has happened recently with L’Avenir who also have three Pinotage labels.  

 

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WOTM - L’Avenir Estate Pinotage 2005

 

My Wine of the Month for June is L'Avenir Estate Pinotage 2005.

Showing signs of full maturity, with plenty of sediment, this is a sleek elegant city slicker of a wine.

I believe this was the last vintage that Francois Naudé was responsible for , shortly afterwards the estate was bought by Laroche and Francois handed over the winemakers baton to Tinus Els.

By the time the 2005 vintage was bottled the labels had changed to the brown Laroche label, but this bears the old label at the request of The Wine Society in the UK who’d were stocking several other L’Avenir wines.

Pinotage in the Blogs

Marcia at The Peppered Heath writes

 I have never had the opportunity to taste a Pinotage before. I have to say I don’t recall ever hearing about it either. Wow, I have been missing out on a wonderful wine. At first pour, this is a beautiful deep ruby colored wine. It has wonderful aromas of blackberry, black cherry, plum and oak but don’t go thinking this is yet another Pinot. This wine is incredibly complex with delightful flavors hidden from your first taste but waiting for you to discover them with subsequent sips. Luscious vanilla, cedar, dark chocolate, and tobacco are just flavors waiting for you.

The Pinotage that impressed? 2006 Fort Ross Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Marcia marks it 5/5 and says "I think I would invest in two cases – yes, it’s that good."

It's Doolhof Dark Lady of the Night 201, Wellington  Pinotage that gets 5/5 at Sipping Sediments
 

 Holy Mother of Macaroni, forgive me, for I have sinned. Numerous times, with numerous glasses. This is by far my favorite discovery this year.

 The aroma? Once you open this sucker and let it breathe(this time, because I was cleaning under the kitchen sinks and the upper cabinets, it was closer to two hours), oh my, what a glorious aroma. Right off the bat, you can smell the richness of the wine. I’m not kidding when I tell you I swear I smelled coffee or some mocha(various investigation on Snooth.com shows it is indeed espresso I was smelling. I’m NOT insane!). Of course, being a coffee-holic, I’m sold right there. But oh, no, my friends, the festivities were only beginning.

 The taste? Superb! Boysenberry, Chocolate, Espresso, Plum, and a multiple of others that many more bottles of imbibement(is that a word? wordsmiths, help!) will no doubt help me solve eventually. It’s an elegant finish. Meaning, with all of these flavors co-habitating, you would expect a lot of deep flavor. it is there, but it’s not overpowering. I have had pinotage that was too much going on all at once. This is, happily, not the case here. It’s so smooth, that it’s not odd that you suddenly discover several glasses have been consumed.

 That was not a confession. That was a revelation.

McNab Ridge “Napoli Vineyard”  2010, Mendocino County Pinotage impresses Joe Dolce at Dolce Drinks

  The wine is full on the palate and powerful at 14.4% alcohol. In the glass it just oozes raspberry fruit, showing on both the nose and palate. It is surrounded by soft touches of vanilla and wood spice with a somewhat creamy mouth-feel. The wine has dusty, coco-powder like tannins that are firm but approachable.

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Bruce Jack on Pinotage

Bruce Jack, winemaker for Flagstone and Kumala has a way with words and a love of Pinotage and he's put the two together in a brilliant new article.

Bruce starts

Like its mother, Pinot Noir, brilliant examples of Pinotage are few and far between. But like Pinot Noir, those examples are life-changing if you are fortunate enough to encounter them. They are so enticing and beautifully satisfying, it’s like a light goes on in your mind; like a secret trap door opens and you step into another world – a fabulously ethereal world of heady aromas, seductive flavours and intense, luscious sensations. Your head spins and you fall in love.

My personal experience is that wines like these aren’t readily crafted from varieties that are generally of better standard quality, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Merlot or Shiraz. Rather, they seem to be made from the recalcitrant, edgy varieties like Pinot Noir, Pinotage, Monastrell and Nebbiolo.

I have no idea why this should be. But something magical happens when these shy, tricky varieties unexpectedly shine. The effect is momentous. It is as though they rocket you up to heaven, blazing past those other consistent and trustworthy achievers.

Bruce admits he's "made all the winemaking mistakes there are to make with the variety," and goes on to discuss making both large volume and exclusive - 1,000 - bottlings. He goes into detail abou the challenges of growing and making Pinotage, discusses 'burnt rubber' and suggests it's connected with uneven ripening and the influence of soil. The technical details are there, but so is poetry...

Each bottle reflects how the vines prospered, or the grapes suffered in the scorching summer heat. Each glass tells how the leaves were battered by the drying wind, and the canes grew heavenward. Each sip reveals how conscientiously and lovingly the wine was crafted, and how well it has survived the journey to your lips. In each aroma and flavor molecule is a memory of this collective energy and effort. Nature, human intervention and luck combine to tell a story of circumstance and cycles.

Please do read the full article Pinotage - APhilosophical Obsession

Have Pride in Pinotage says Oz Clarke

“Pinotage is needed and it is something to have pride in! And Cinsaut (Pinotage is a cross of the cultivars Pinot Noir and Cinsaut) is not the workhorse or donkey of a grape it’s often described as. Back in the 1980s, it was fashionable to be rude about Pinotage but not any more. I want the Pinot Noir characters brought out in cooler areas and the Cinsaut character in the warmer areas. Beyers Truter does wonderful stuff.

Pinotage can be fresh, bright and juicy with characters unlike any in the world. Mulberry, marshmallow, bonfire smoke, strange and wonderful flavours — but you need to tame the tannins and stop the new oak!”

 

 

 

Oz Clarke was being interviewed by Katy Chance in South Africa's Business Day newspaper while judging at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show

WOTM: Meinert Printer's Ink 2007 Pinotage

My Wine of the Month for May.

Finding Martin Meinert’s Pinotage on a hotel wine list in this remote place was a pleasant surprise. We had travelled twelve hours by ferry from Aberdeen to the Sheltand Isles, north-east of mainland Scotland, to explore the Neolithic stone circles buildings and tombs that abound there and in the Orkneys.

While waiting for the ferry that would take us to the Orkneys we had time for lunch at the Queens Hotel in Lerwick. Lerwick is both the most northerly and most easterly town in the UK and we were as close to Bergen in Norway as to Aberdeen.

The chef’s special that lunchtime was a fragrant lamb and chickpea curry. The lamb was local and the accompanying flat bread was homemade.

The wine, 2007 vintage, had sufficient bottle age to make a perfect pairing. Dark red, with sleek powerful fruit with a rich finish.

Martin Meinert was winemaker for some of South Africa’s top wineries, including Vergelegen, before he decided to go it alone. He has a private winery in the hills at the top of Devon Valley where he makes a range of wines under his Meinert label. He also partners Ken Forrester with whom he makes wine. He is the ‘M’ in their iconic ‘The FMC’ Chenin blanc.

 

For two videos of Martin making this 2007 Pinotage see www.pinotage.org/2007/04/martin-meinert-makes-pinotage-video.html





Shetland Isles, May 2013. Crossing a sand bar to the deserted St Ninian's Isle to visit the ruins of
St Ninian's Chapel which dates bach to the 12th Century.
The sky and sea are blue, the sun is hot but the wind is icy.

 

 

Pinotage on Tap - 2013 Dates Announced

Diemersfontein winery have announced the dates and locations of their 9th annual Pinotage on Tap celebration of the new vintage of the original coffee'n'chocolate Pinotage.

7 September 2013 -- Pinotage On Tap Johannesburg

21 September 2013 -- Pinotage On Tap Durban

12 October 2013 -- Pinotage On Tap Cape Town at the winery

Tickets go on sale in  three weeks time on 10 June 2013

Details of pricing, location and guest bands here.


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Pinotage Association in California

Members of the Pinotage Association visited California's largest Pinotage producer, Loma Prieta winery in the hills above Los Gatos just south of San Francisco, this month.

The trip, led by Association chairman Beyers Truter, was  the prize for winemakers whose wines won the 2012 Perold Absa Cape Blend competition.

Loma Prieta owner/winemaker Paul Kemp is fourth from left in the photo, wearing a red shirt and standing next to Beyers Truter. (click on photo to see it all)

Closing date for entries to the 2013 Perold Absa Cape Blend and Pinotage Top 10 competitions is 19 June 2013.

Thanks to Paul Kemp for the photo.

Beyerskloof Rose "a real drinkers’ wine"

Beyerskloof, a vintner of repute has their pinotage rosé listed here. Pinotage tends to the chocolate/coffee end of the flavour spectrum with less berry fruit and the strawberry nose. In many ways this makes it a perfect rosé, as chilled wine tends not to have much of a bouquet anyway, and the earthy character of the wine makes it a real drinkers’ wine. Even diehard red guys should be able to enjoy a glass.

If you’re looking for the one drink does all for the cottage or the deck I’d recommend this one. So go for it; try a glass. You won’t be disappointed.

James Romanow in The Leader Post, Southern Saskatchewan, Canada writing about Beyerskloof Pinotage Dry Rosé,  2010

Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Pinotage+ros%c3%a9+suitsdrinkers+tastes/8354883/story.html#ixzz2T5oxBCqp

Bosman Vintage Report and Sugar Loading

Sugar Loading is a term new to me. This vintage report by Heinie Nel, viticulturist at Bosman Family Vineyards, explains what it is and how he uses the process to pick his Pinotage and Shiraz grapes at the point they reach ripeness.

 

Heinie Nel, viticulturist at Bosman Family Vineyards

The 2013 harvest is in the cellar and we are very excited about the quality of this vintage.

The growing season started off quite good. Our rainfall in the previous year (2011) was 537 mm and during this year (2012) we measured 727 mm of rain. We started off with good soil moisture and enough water for the growing season. Our own little "Hurricane Sandy" struck from November 28 - 30 2012. We had wind speed of up to 110 km/h, the average being 65 km/h. Many of the shoots and leaves in the vineyards were lost and damaged. The vineyards never recovered fully and immediately after the wind, we had maximum temperatures of 39°C - 42°C. Fortunately there was very little sunburn damage, but at this time we were all starting to become a little negative about the season.

Things did shift to become more favorable during the second half of December and the first half of January when temperatures were cool which is perfect for veraison.

Most of the cultivars were estimated to be about ten days later than normal except for Pinotage and Viognier which was estimated to be 5-6 days earlier.

We do sugar loading on the red cultivars to determine this. Sugar loading is when we take 100 berries, weight them and test its sugar. All measurements are plotted on a graph and when it stops ascending, you know the grapes are starting to reach full ripeness.

For example, we normally harvest the Shiraz on 25-26 ° Balling, but with sugar loading we established that we already achieve full ripeness on 24 ° Balling. During the tasting of these wines we had very positive results. We will continue with this practice to see whether we can harvest grapes at lower sugar levels and still reach optimum ripeness.

Source Bosman Family Vineyards Autumn 2013 (May) Newsletter


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WOTM - Bellevue Houdamond Pinotage 2009

My Wine of the Month for April is this beautiful full-square classic Pinotage from Bellevue Estate.I should really be keeping this as it will age perfectly but I just couldn’t resist opening it.

It’s Bellevue Estate’s ‘Morkel’ re-badged as Houdamond for Marks & Spencer.

 

 

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France Approves Pinotage

Pinotage is one of five 'foreign' varieties that have been approved by  L’Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin (IFV) for growing in France to produce wine. The Institute says that Pinotage

"makes deep coloured wines, powerful and fruity with aromas of blackberry and plum. Pinotage is well suited to the production of rosé wines."

The other  newly approved varieties are Nebbiolo, Nero d’Avola, Saperavi and Touriga nacional.

Source: www.vignevin.com/recherche/materiel-vegetal/centre-de-selection/varietes-inscrites.html


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WOTM - Spencer Bay Pinotage 2007

Wow! Beautiful nose, powerful ripe berry fruits, smooth and sleek, yet with good structure. This is a wine that makes you stop and pause after you take a sip and just stare at the glass to wonder how they managed to get so much flavour in one glass.

Winemaker’s Reserve is the premium label from Namaqua, well known for the bag-in-box wines.

This is a delicious and most enjoyable wine. A most worth Wine of the Month for March.

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New use for an old fermenting tank door at Namaqua's winery

Kanonkop Pinotage for Easter Lamb

Suzy Atkins, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, 14/3/2013, recommends Kanonkop Pinotage 2010 as  'a huge treat with lamb this Easter' in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph.

Article here.



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Pinotage "making a comeback" in NZ

John Hawkesby writing in The New Zealand Herald today says 

Pinotage used to have a following in the 70s but was elbowed out of the way by other reds. Now it's making a comeback and, if you like touches of pepper and a gamey “splash in the glass”, this could be your new favourite.

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WOTM - De Waal 2001 Pinotage

February’s wine of the month is the stunning De Waal 2001 from Uiterwyck Estate’s “Top of the Hill” vineyard. 

This vineyard is home to the oldest Pinotage vines in the world, so the wine is liquid history. The vines grow as bushes on a gently sloped low hill with a large spreading wild-fig tree right on the summit, visible for miles. The tree offers shelter from the sun to farm workers who sit under it while eating their lunch.

I’ve always thought “Top of the Hill” wines needs time to show their best, and with 12 years age I think it is at the start of a long peak. Tannins have smoothed, fruit has lost the precocity of young Pinotage and become sleek. The wine is similar to an aged claret but with more fruit  and the underlying sweetness typical of Pinotage. 

Lovely stuff, and sadly my last bottle.

Food and Beverage World Rates pinotage

Food & Beverage World’s annual California Wines of the Year Competition has red wine categories for Cabernet, Bordeaux blends, Pinot, and Rhone. Everything else is judged in Other Reds. This year Other Reds places a Pinotage in its top three, after two Zinfandels.

It’s yet another award for Loma Prieta winery’s 2010 gold-winning ‘Karma Vineyard’ Pinotage, and it is great to see Pinotage getting recognition in competition with other California varieties.
 

Pinotage budwood for grafting has arrived
 at Loma Prieta from the nursery

Loma Prieta is unable to keep up with demand for their Pinotage and owner Paul Kemp tells me he is grafting over the rest of his estate vineyard to Pinotage this year, and will also be increasing production by another 20 tons from the Karma Vineyard in Lodi by grafting over 3-4 more acres to Pinotage.

“Like in a poker game, it looks like I am all in on Pinotage,” said Paul. “The key with Pinotage is to get people to try it and then the wine sells itself.”

Wine from the new vines will not be on sale for five years as it takes at least three years before new vines can be harvested and then Paul ages his Pinotage for two years in oak barrels before release. However, as he is currently sourcing grapes from three vineyards in addition to those on his estate he has been able to double the number of shipments available to members of Loma Prieta’s  ‘Pinotage Only’ wine club, the first in America.  

View at sunset looking over Loma Prieta's estate vineyard
and down to the Pacific


 

 

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WOTM - Wildekrans Osiris Pinotage

My wine of the month for January is Wildekrans ‘Osiris’ Barrel Select 2008. 

I bought it for 125 Rands from Houw Hoek Farm Stall, which is on the N2 road in the section after Sir Lowry’s Pass and just before the road descends from the mountains down to Bot River.   

We found we were stopping there more and more to have a delicious lunch in their restaurant, buy delicious farmers bread hot from the oven and their Portuguese style custard tarts. You can also buy the home-made salad dressing used in the restaurant. 

And always to browse in their wine shop which is strong on local labels.

There’re usually some wines to taste with an attendant who will follow browsers around pointing to various wines and telling you that they are “good”. 

This wine has a standout label with a golden image of Osiris which catches the light, and just as impressive, though  more subdued, is a Pinotage Top 10 winner sticker. Osiris has been dropped from the label of later vintages

I visited Wildekrans many years ago when Bartho Eksteen was the winemaker, but he moved on a decade or so ago and I believe the winery has been greatly renovated since then. I must make a point of visiting it next time I am in the Cape.

Anyway, this wine is fresh and full of rich silky ripe fruit flavours with a good structure and long finish. 

And, sadly, that was my last bottle.

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