Pinotage & Vindaloo? No Problem!

Wine and food writer Fiona Beckett has tried matching a curries with various beverages, and recounts the experience on her Food & Wine Matching website in an article titled Can any Wine survive a Vindaloo?


Armed with a "can of supermarket lager, a bottle of Greene King IPA (Indian Pale Ale), an Alsace Gewurztraminer, a full bodied, fruity red Stormhoek Pinotage from South Africa and a mango lassi - all served chilled, even the Pinotage" she started with a medium hot Chicken Rogan Josh, moving on to a supermarket vindaloo and finishing with a "vindaloo from the takeaway, which was hotter still. The Gewurztraminer really couldn’t cope with this unless you added some raita and dal but the Pinotage still kept going"

She concludes that "the big surprise - although I’d had an inkling it would work because South Africans regard it as the best match for curry - was the Pinotage, welcome news to those who prefer drinking red wine to white. But don’t drink it at room temperature, chill it first!"

That Pinotage is a good match for spicy foods is no surprise to Pinotage lovers, but it is good to hear the word is spreading.

The Pinotage Effect

There's a lot of Pinotage activity on the web this week.


On the elevated realms of Robert Parker's wine discussion forum, Port guru Roy Hersh likens aged Pinotage to southern Rhones. He has just opened a 1999 Beyerskloof Pinotage.


"It is not one of those ungodly wines that those who hate Pinotage would turn their nose up at. In fact, most people do not age their Pinotage ... unless they know any better. Having tried 20-30 year old examples (in country) I know that some ... can and do become beautiful old wines, but obviously there are not many that do.

At just 7-8 years old, this wine is showing beautifully and I'd say at about peak performance. It would still drink well 5+ years from now too, but I don't think it will ever be better than it is today. It is showing a dark crimson color with a clear edge and no signs of maturity in terms of its appearance. The nose is dapper, with a smoky and spicy scent initially but the subtlety wears off and it literally explodes with leather, pine resin and a plum earthiness that is gorgeous (if you like the style). It is closer to the aromatics of a So. Rhone wine than what most people think in terms of as So. African ... no less Pinotage.

On the palate it shows great viscosity and the heavy weight is as plush as a deep pile carpet. This is fun to roll around the mouth and we have half a bottle left to enjoy with our steak dinner in a few minutes. But already the prune, tobacco, meaty flavors and clay come to the fore. I don't normally use clay as a descriptor for a flavor profile ... but I think that those 4 ppl. on this BB, that enjoy aged Pinotage know the note I am describing. I have to take a look at the alc. % but there is no signs that this is out of synch. In fact the delicious fruit and acidity are singing already and this was not even decanted!"



Another person in love with Beyerskloof is an anonymous lady who blogs under the name 'Classy Rump', although I wonder what her unlucky husband thinks. She sent him out to the farmers market to buy a shoulder of lamb which she slow cooked in Port. She says "Drank Beyerskloof pinotage, one of my absolute faves, - went perfectly with the spicy lamb. Lovley. Had intended giving Hubs one of my special BJs to cheer him up but crashed out and woke up side by side on the sofa hours later like a pair of tinned sardines."


And on the UK wine forum, Richard Ward tried Charles Back's Pinotage-Viognier, 2005, Paarl, 14.5% on a Tesco supermarket half price offer -

"F*** me - this tastes exactly like Musar!! A eureka moment - a pinotage I actually like, with a velvetty texture and mouthfeel, soft earthy aromas and (surprisingly given the 14.5% alcohol) no astringency on the finish. I don't know if it's the addition of 4% Viognier which has helped it, or if it's just really well made, but this is superb. No jamminess, no medicinal notes, no beefy/smokey flavours - just a really deep yet soft and well rounded wine. Tasted blind I would have sworn it was Musar. I was literally blown away by this wine - I've never tasted a pinotage like it. 91pts."


And, ahem, (well there are Pinotage wines featured in it), over at wine.co.za Neil Pendock gave an enthusiastic review of my book Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape" and says "Wine pundit for the Observer, Tim Atkin may list “never trust a person who collects wine labels” in his enumeration of the Top 25 Wine Truths, but in the case of Peter May I’m prepared to make an exception. He’s been a judge on the ABSA Top Ten Pinotage Competition and so must be as squeaky clean as a Stelvin screwcap. And on the basis of this collection of wine oddities, even screwier."

No Comment :)

Pinotage - "It's a South African Variety"

It is time we stopped automatically referring to the parentage of Pinotage.

I recently spent some time listening in at various Cape tasting rooms and the usual mantra when pouring Pinotage is “This is Pinotage – it is a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut,” and sometimes the the Hermitage – Cinsaut connection is thrown in to explain the name.

The excuse is that Pinotage is a new variety to many people. But those same people had to taste Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz for the first time in the past and it is certain that the pourer just announced the variety without mentioning that they are crosses* and telling them the names of the parent vines.

What we are doing is confusing a great many people without enlightening them.


How many casual wine drinkers even understand what a ‘cross’ means? A look around the internet quickly demonstates how many visitors to Cape wine lands have departed with the idea that Pinotage is a blend or mix of wines.

Some winemakers like to say their Pinotage shows some Pinot Noir or Cinsaut characteristics – but is that what the tasting room visitor ought to be looking for?

Shouldn’t they be experiencing a new variety and enjoying it for its own flavours, not feeling bad because they can’t taste the Pinot Noir – and how many of us know what Cinsaut tastes like?

I’d like to see Pinotage being introduced as a South African variety – and leave it at that. Of course, if there are questions about its antecedents they should be answered. But let’s not throw all that confusing baggage at new drinkers.

Some quotes from people sufficiently keen on wine to blogged their thoughts:

"There's even a special "Cape Wine" blend called a Pinotage, which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Cinsault". -- Karen Oakley

"South Africa produces the Pinotage, a blend of the Pinot Noir and Cinsault grapes" --
"veteran drinks journalist" Rick Lyke

"assemblage des cepages Pinot noir et cinsault" -- Adrien

"Pinotage is a mix between pinot noir and Cinsault". -- 'helping candidates who are studying sommelier exams' World Wine Delivery

"supposedly originally a graft of Cinsaut vines onto Pinot Noir"-- KeithF



"a somewhat accidental graft of Pinot Noir with Cinsaut" -- FoodSnob

So, lets say 'It's Pinotage -- it's a South African variety'.

And go no further.

* Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah/Shiraz is a cross of Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. When was the last time you heard a winemaker saying their Cabernet Sauvignon was showing its Sauvignon Blanc characteristics?

Camberley's Garage is full of Pinotage

Isn’t it funny the impression you get about a winery when all you know about it is from the label on its wines?

Camberley’s moody black label with its hard to read gold overprinting made me think of a dark gloomy miserable place and it took me until now to discover that nothing could be further from the truth.

I’d always known their Pinotages are superb, no doubt about it. But something had put me off visiting the home of that black label. At last I drove up the short access road to find an electronic gate blocking the way. Should I press the intercom button? I was thinking of turning around and leaving when my way out was blocked by an incoming car. The driver called across “Don’t worry, I’ll open it” and, as she pressed a button on a remote control, the gates slid open.

I parked at the edge of the garden of a large bungalow on a ridge and got out to meet Gaël Nel, the owner (pictured above). Her winemaker husband John wasn’t there, and she had a dozen tasks to do but she insisted I follow her in to her house. There was a breathtaking view over the valley at the end of their garden. But no sign of a winery.

I followed her down some stairs and found myself in a barrel cellar built in what had been the garage. Built on a slope into the hill, this small boutique winery sits under the Nel's house. In a room set aside for tastings, Gaël opened a bottle of their current Pinotage, the 2005 vintage.

This WO Stellenbosch Pinotage was purple coloured with soft ripe fruit flavours which filled the mouth with sweet silky texture and some acids on the finish, a most attractive wine.


Gaël then opened a new 2006 Pinotage. This had been in the bottle for just three weeks. It had an intense glass staining purple colour with a really spicy front palate, some coffee and chocolate flavours, backed up by some grip and fruit acids on finish. I reckon this will be a real cracker with a little bottle age.

Both were really delightful wines, and Gaël was keen to show me their other wines, a Shiraz, Merlot and some Cabernet based blends. But I had taken up enough of her time, I’ll return next trip.

And now when I see that Camberley label (pictured right) I think of a warm sun-filled welcoming house on the side of a lush valley and a couple who make great wine in their basement.

Getting Lost and Finding a Friend on the way to Grangehurst

“Why not come and visit us?” asks Jeremy Walker (Pictured far left with Peter May) - owner/winemaker of Grangehurst Winery when I meet him at a party. So I did.

The only previous time I went to Grangehurst, several years ago, the tasting room was closed. This time I couldn’t even find it. I popped into the R44 roadside produce/farm/wine shop that is Mooiberg intending to check directions. And browsing the wineshop, I was approached by a woman who recognised me. Embarrassingly, I couldn't recall where I knew her from but she reminded me she used to be in the Fairview tasting room. Now Marlies Naudé works for Charles Back’s distribution company and was offering tastes of MAN Vintners and the Goats do Roam ranges. The expected rush following the Argus Cycle race the previous day hadn’t materialised so we swapped stories and she got me directions back to Grangehurst.

It's up a dirt road and is only identified by the word Grangehurst painted vertically on a gate post. There had been a delivery lorry parked right in front of it earlier, I remembered, because I had to manoeuvre past it and didn't see the sign.

Jeremy was at the rear of the tasting room and poured some Grangehurst 2001 Pinotage from an open bottle. “There’s 11% Cabernet Sauvignon in it,” he told me. I found it had a sweet front, seemed quite light bodied for a wine with 14% abv and had noticeable acids on the finish.

“We have sold out of the 2000 vintage, and we can’t sell the 2001 because the wine labels aren’t printed yet – we’ve had delay after delay which is irritating because people want to buy it “

“These wines seem quite mature,” I said, “considering that other wineries have already released their 2006 Pinotages.”

“We like to bottle age our wines,” Jeremy replied. “Our style of wine is meant very much for accompanying food and we sell mostly to restaurants. They like to have wines with some age. After barrel ageing, our wines return to stainless steel tanks and they are racked many times, it is the natural way of cleaning wines – we don’t filter them. Only when we bottle the wines, they are gravity fed very gently to the bottling line and there is a filter there.”

“You must try this Kautzenburg 2004 (WO Stellenbosch 14.5%abv) that I made here for a neighbour” said Jeremy, opening another bottle. This Pinotage had a lavender perfumed nose, it was full bodied, with gravel spices and wild herb flavour. A most attractive wine that hit the target on all points of the palate.

Then Jeremy poured me some of his Cape Blend. Nikela 2001 is a blend of roughly equal Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage with a little Merlot (OK, I wrote down the percentages but I now find they add up to well over 100%. Sums never were my strong point...)

This Nikela is a well rounded wine with good body and fruit and fruit acids on the finish. “The acids help when you’re having it with food,” Jeremy said, “This isn’t meant for drinking on its own.”

Jeremy was intrigued to learn the last time I enjoyed Nikela was at the Pinotage Dinner in September 2006 in Toronto, organised by the local South African Wine Society. Then it was the 2000 vintage which I noted ‘51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Pinotage and 11% Merlot, matured for 21 months in French and American oak barrels. Good structure with ripe berry flavours and a hint of sweetness and some grippy tannins. A very pleasant wine, good drinking now but will keep.’


I remarked on the corks Jeremy was using because they looked like composites (picture right). “They are DIAM technical corks,” Jeremy told me. “Several other winemakers have recommended them to me and I am trialling them. We’ve bottled 3- 400 wines with them and we’ll use these bottles in our tasting room and at shows so we can closely monitor them. They are supposed to be TCA free. You can tell they are DIAM because of the ‘D’ stamped on them.”

That night I opened the bottle of Grangehurst 2001 Pinotage that Jeremy had kindly given me. And you know what? He’s right – it is a super food wine! The acids I had remarked on in the tasting room were not noticeable. This wine was full bodied, ripe and silky in texture. There were coffee tones on the palate – and now on the nose as well.

Another stunning wine.

Spex Selex - Warwick

Wine Spectator Online really has got the taste for Pinotage, selecting Warwick's Pinotage as Wine editors Daily Pick for today, 17 March, the third time this month Pinotage has been picked - joining previous picks Kanonkop 04 and Simonsig 04 .

James Molesworth says of Warwick's 2005 'Old Bush Vine' Pinotage "Ripe and creamy, with mocha, blackberry, plum and spice flavors that run through the medium-weight, fleshy finish. A very modern style. Drink now. 2,500 cases made. (88 points, $23)

Spit Lamb, not Pinotage!

Talking of lamb and Pinotage reminds me that last week I called in at Backsberg Estate Cellars near Paarl to update myself with their wine range.


Walking towards the winery I noticed people were dining at tables placed on the lawn under the shade of the numerous trees. I wandered over to see an entire lamb slowly rotating on a spit and a cheerful chef wielding a long carving knife. (Lennox - pictured right)

A glimpse of the menu promised “Karoo Lamb on the Spit - A South African tradition served with a house salad or farm style vegetables and Backsberg’s famous roast potatoes. Have your lamb sliced exactly as you like it at the spit. R90.”

A moment later I was sitting at one of those tables, studying the wine list and nibbling on some bread. Lamb wasn’t the only dish on the menu but it is the only item I had eyes for. What to drink? Water obviously and a bottle of Backsberg Pinotage 2006 at R45. Obviously. The waitron* said she would bring my veggies and then I could go and get my meat.

A long empty table filled up with a large group under the guidance of a tour guide and although there were a few calls for vegetarian dishes the majority chose the lamb, and without waiting for their potatoes they took their bread plates and formed a line by the spit. I was fearing all the lamb would all be gone by the time I was served, but the cheerful waitron, returning with my platter, assured me that the tour group was expected and there was plenty of meat for everyone. And so it proved to be.

The chef asked which part the animal I preferred (the leg) and how I wanted my meat cooked (medium), and expertly and efficiently carved me off slices of lamb. A nearby table held ample jars of Colmans Hot English mustard (the only one that matters) and thickly gloopy mint sauce – lovely!!

The meat was deliciously succulent and tender, cooked exactly as I had chosen. The ‘famous’ roast potatoes were crisp on the outside and creamily soft inside and the roasted veggies (aubergine, courgettes, carrot, peppers) were a tasty colourful accompaniment. (picture left)

Backsberg Pinotage 2006 was very ripe, soft and plummy with some jammy fruit, very drinkable and approachable. A friendly wine and a truly new world Pinotage. I replaced the cork and took the bottle with me and returned to it the following evening when it was just as delightful. It was 14.5% but didn’t show it and, surprisingly Wine of Origin Coastal when I was expecting from the word Estate in the winery name that it would be WO Paarl.

Simon Back, son of Backsberg owner Michael Back (who was at another table in the restaurant. I tipped my straw hat to him, but didn’t interrupt what looked like – from his unhappy expression – a business meeting), blogs at B’s Blog so I asked him.

Simon explained “We declassified ourselves as Estate wine producers several years ago and changed the name from being simply Backsberg Estate to being Backsberg Estate Cellars. This was done so as to comply with the law governing Estate wine production but at the same time staying as close as possible to the original name. In some cases where we have bought in fruit and or wine we can keep the classification of Paarl in others it becomes more complex as we may have fruit and or wine from different areas and then it becomes easier to refer the classification as coastal which is more generic. The main driver behind this is simply flexibility in the pursuit of quality.”

Backsberg vineyards as seen from access road.

*Waitron is a most useful South African non-gender specific word for a waiter or waitress.

Matching Food & Pinotage – Salmon or Lamb?

Vino Con Brio in Lodi, California are pleased with the 88 points their 2004 Pinotage was awarded by Steve Heimoff in Wine Enthusiast! who wrote "Dark, thick, soft and juicy, an amazingly flavorful wine with a depth of exotic flavors. Blackberry liqueur, dark chocolate, cherry jam, violet flower, charred beef bones and peppery spice flavors swirl together into a complex finish..." and they recommend Con Brio Cedar Plank Salmon as the perfect food match in this recipe from their current newsletter.

1 cedar plank (6 by 14 inches) well soaked

2 salmon fillets (1 1/2 pounds total)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons brown sugar

Soak cedar plank in salted water for at least 2 hours, then drain. Remove skin from salmon fillet. Remove any remaining bones. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Generously season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Lay the salmon (on what was skin-side down) on the cedar plank and carefully spread the mustard over the top and sides.

Place the brown sugar in a bowl and crumble between your fingers, then sprinkle over the mustard. Set grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Place the cedar plank in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook until cooked through, around 20 to 30 minutes. The internal temperature should read 135 degrees F.

Transfer the salmon and plank to a platter and serve right off the plank with Vino Con Brio's Estate Pinotage.

Lamb Curry

But over at Stuffed and Plastered, Rach thinks Pinotage is ideal with her Lamb Curry which she says “does not taste like a true Indian curry, more of a Mongolian one with subtle spices and less afterkick.”

She finds Cabernet Sauvignon “makes the wine taste sour” and Rioja/Tempranillo is “too heavy a grape and loses the rich flavour and aromas of the food”.

Rach says Stellenbosch Pinotage makes the best match, and she recommends Kleine Zalze and Beyersksloof Pinotage.

Parkerized Pinotage?

Robert Parker is reputed to love the style of wines made by Michel Rolland. What Parker loves he awards big scores to. High Parker scores sell wines and their price soars thus wineries around the world engage Rolland as a wine making consultant in order to make 'Parker' wines. Rolland’s reputation is built on Bordeaux varieties but if you want to know what a Parkerized Pinotage tastes like, mosey along to Marianne Estate, just south of Paarl on the R44.

Michel Rolland is a friend of M. Dauriac, who owns Marianne in addition to estates in Bordeaux, and Rolland enjoys staying in the farm’s luxury guest houses.

Marianne wines include Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, two Bordeaux blends and well as Pinotage, all of which I tasted. The wine I thought best, though was their 2004 Chenin Blanc. Unfortunately this is the only vintage since the vines have sadly been replaced.

Wines are differentiated by the colour used on the labels, which bear a stylised image of Marianne, the iconic French revolutionary symbol

Alone of the red wines, the Pinotage is fermented in stainless steel. 2004 was their first bottling, and the only Pinotage currently available but I was also able to taste the 2005 and 2006 from barrel.

The 2004 (68R = 9.25USD/4.75GBP) Pinotage has a dense garnet very young looking but not particularly clear colour and a floral lavender nose. I found it had a strange finish -- sharp volatile stewed, almost burnt. I noted it was ‘interesting’ but I did not like this wine.

Much more to my taste was the 2005, back in tank prior to bottling after barrel ageing in old oak. It has good fruit, depth and soft tannins.

And the 2006, which was in its tenth month in old oak barrels, was also very approachable. Good berry fruits and structure, some grip on finish. I’d like to taste this wine once it is bottled.

For me, there was a very steep improvement over the three vintages, and this farm is definitely one to watch as its 8-15 year old Pinotage vines mature and Rolland gets to grip with Pinotage.

Many thanks to Franck Malassigne of Marianne for the tasting, and to Jeanette Stals for making the arrangements.

Spex Selex - Kanonkop

Wine Spectator Online seems to have got the taste for Pinotage, selecting Kanonkop's Pinotage as Wine editors Daily Pick for today, 9 March just four days after Simonsigs 04 Pinotage was selected.

James Molesworth says of Kanonkop's 2004 Pinotage "Juicy and focused, with boysenberry and raspberry fruit held together by mocha, graphite and black tea flavors. The long, smoky finish has a nice minerality underneath. Impressive. Drink now through 2008. 800 cases imported. (90 points, $33)

Bellevue Chimes for Morrison

It is always a pleasure to drop into the tasting room of Bellevue Estate , managed by Randall Peceur pictured (right) with owner Dirkie Morkel.

Bellevue, who now label their wines, for trademark reasons, under the Morkel name, have a special place in Pinotage history. Not only was their wine the very first commercially released Pinotage in 1961– under the Lanzerac label, but the same vineyards are still producing prime Pinotage and they are the worlds oldest documented Pinotage.

If you are not already confused by label names, then prepare for two more from Bellevue. First is a new empowerment project wine range - Sizanani. This has a striking label of a tree silhouetted against the sunset and the Sizanani Pinotage 2003 is really very drinkable with soft sweet rounded plum and berry fruits from Bellevue’s young vines. And it is not just me that liked this wine. The buyer from the UK Morrisons supermarket chain just loved it and immediately scooped up two containers worth for their own range labelled ‘Morrisons The Best’. Their tasting note for the 2005 reads "A medium bodied, fruity red wine with subtle hints of wood smoke, vanilla and typical jammy mocha Pinotage flavours. Enjoy on its own or a perfect partner to grilled salmon, sausage casseroles or stuffed mushrooms."

There are two vintages currently available of the Sizanani Pinotage, 2005 and 2006. I think the 2006 needs a little more time, being a little youthfully disjointed with some crisp tannins, but I’ll be popping along to Morrisons on my return to the UK for the 2005 (even though Morrisons label design is not a patch on the Sizanani). At Bellevue the Sizanani is a bargain 22 Rand, in Morrisons the Brits will be paying 6.99 GBP (about R99)

Bellevue’s Morkel Pinotage 2005 costs R70 and this is a stunner: really ripe, full bodied, some typical Pinotage sweet mouth feel and there’s quite some complexity there with tannins on the finish. This comes from 30-50 year old bush vines and spent 12 months in 50% new American oak barrels. (whereas the Sizanani/Morrisons used oak staves).

Bellevue Estate’s top Pinotage honours Pieter Krige (P K) Morkel who was responsible for conversion of the farm to a wine estate, a famous Springbok rugby player and the man who went out to buy Gamay vines and came back with the new Pinotage variety.

The P K Morkel Pinotage is barrel selected from the very best wines, usually – but not necessarily - from the original old block. “The important thing is that this wine is the very best from this estate, not which block it comes from,” Dirkie told me. “I am a viticulturist, and some years one slope has better conditions and produces a better wine. That is why I am still considering the pros and cons of registering the old block as a single vineyard.”

The 2003 P K Morkel Pinotage was a finalist in the 2006 Pinotage Top 10 competition. It offers attractive sweet ripe fruits on the front palate followed by smooth spices, a little coffee and vanilla and a very long finish. “It is feminine and elegant”, says Dirkie. It aged 12 months in new French oak, and is available from the cellar at R90.

The 2004 P K Morkel Pinotage is not yet released, but Dirkie kindly gave me an advance taste. This wine spent 18 months in barrel and at this early stage its tannins are quite apparent, especially on the finish. It does open up in the glass where it develops rounded blackberry flavours, but whereas the 2003 is immediately appealing, I think the 2004 needs more time before drinking. However I passed a glass to a friend who preferred it to the 2003 saying it had more flavour and character.

Dornier's First Pinotage

Dornier is a new winery in Stellenbosch whose first bottling was in 2002. The winery building with a sculptured undulating profile that is reflected in a pool in front and echoed by the edge of its wine labels. And, as I mentioned earlier, Dornier was a runner-up in the 2006 Pinotage Top 10 competition with its first Pinotage from the 2004 vintage.

So I was delighted that my old mate and Pinotage enthusiast Keith Prothero had managed to charm winemaker J C Steyn (pictured left) to spare us some time during harvest to open and taste Pinotage with him.

The 2004 Pinotage costs 60R (4.50GBP/9USD) at the winery. JC told me the vineyards were planted in 1997 and 1998. “We used only the free run juice and the 2004 Pinotage was aged 16 months in second fill oak barrels,” JC said. “And now we are using 12% new oak to see what happens.”

The Pinotage had a coffee nose and bright fruit. There was high acidity (“natural” says JC ) and firm tannins on a long lingering finish. I can see why it would stand out at a competition tasting, but I would vigorously decant it before drinking now, but would prefer to keep it for a couple of years.

Dornier is worth a visit now to see its stunning California style building (picture - right) and taste its distinctive wines, and soon it'll be a food destination as they are restoring an old Cape Dutch building on the other side of the pool and will be opening it as a bistro later this year.

Spex Selex Simonsig

Simonsig Redhill Pinotage 2004 was chosen as Wine Spectator Online editors Daily Pick for today, 5 March.

James Molesworth says "Dark, ripe and fleshy, showing lots of plum, currant and blackberry fruit, layered with cocoa powder and tar flavors. The finish is long and muscular, but this also has a sense of polish. Drink now through 2008. 1,000 cases made. (89 points, $30)"

Meerendal Releases Single Vineyard Heritage Block Pinotage

A world class meal demands a world class wine and at Meerendal Estate (pictured left) I enjoyed both.

Meerendal have taken opportunity of the recent change in South Africa’s Wine Of Origin system to register production from single vineyard block. This block, officially identified as number 2D and named The Heritage Block, was planted with Pinotage in 1955, making them the oldest Pinotage vines in the Durbanville area and – by my reckoning – the third oldest in the world.

I mentioned earlier that visiting Meerendal to taste this wine would be a must during my time in the Cape.I had the extreme good fortune to meet David Higgs, Meerendal’s General Manager/Executive Chef (pictured right) at Beyerskloof and he immediately invited me to lunch to taste the wine at Meerendal.

Meerendal is easy to find – take the R302 exit north from the N1 , and after passing through Durbanville take the left fork onto the M48 and you cannot miss Meerendal on the right. The Estate changed hands a few years ago, and the new owners have great plans – the release of a single vineyard Pinotage is the result of one and there are new building works underway.

There is a buzzy Bistro with great views from its deck and a deli stocking produce made on the farm, a function room and a chapel whichjis a favourite spot for weddings. And the old manor house (pictured above) houses the sophisticated Wheatfields restaurant.

The last of the Pinotage was being harvested although Heritage Block was already in tank undergoing malolactic fermentation. Meerendal do their alcoholic fermentation in kuipes - traditional open tanks. Each of the 20 tanks can hold 5 tons, so Meerendal can handle 100 tons of grapes at a time.

Winemaker Liza Goodwin told me that the 2005 vintage was the first where the grapes from the Heritage Block had been handled separately. “Everything is done by hand,”she told me, “from picking through to labeling the bottles.” She pointed at a small team of workers carefully placing the heavy paper engraved labels on the bottles - which have been imported especially. They weigh 1 kg and have a very deep punt. The 2006 vintage is in barrel. Lisa poured a taste in my glass. It had a good structure, subtle mulberry flavours of great depth and a long finish, on which wooding was apparent. “It has been in barrel 15 months and I expect to be bottling it next month,” said Lisa.



In Wheatfields restuarant I chose Oven roasted Springbok, with sweet potato and honey rolled in crispy filo pastry on a bed of shredded mangetout which had been flash fried with some pancetta and homemade smoked chili, on rosemary gravy (pictured right) This dish was exceptional, with the mangetout outstanding being so crispy. One of the best meals I have eaten, and priced at just 90R.

With it we tasted Meerendal Pinotage 2003. This had a ripe fruity nose and although not overt there were rich silky berry flavours and an underlying sweet mouthfeel. A classy wine.

The single vineyard Heritage Block Pinotage 2005 was opened. "It was just bottled in December 06," Dave Higgs told me. There was a bright nose, it was exciting and youthful and a little perky, with dense mulberry and grip on the finish. We agreed it needed more bottle age. Having seen how well the 2003 has fared, I'd wouldn't open this wine till 2010 at the earliest.

I found it difficult to choose just one dish from the menu of this excellent menu, but it is hard to image a meal more enjoyable than my roast springbok with its 'salad of pancetta, mangetout, and smoked chili'. Executive Chef Dave Higgs, Head Chef Stephen Fraser and their team (they are training local youngsters in their kitchens) are cooking up a wow.

New York’s FOOD & WINE magazine (May 2006 issue) named Wheatfields in their List Of Hottest Restaurants In The World, one of just seven restaurants in the Cape. I have no doubt Dave and Stephen will go far in their profession and we wil be hearing much more of them in the future.

And as for The Heritage Block Pinotage: only 300 cases were made of this special initial 2005 vintage, so don't delay in in laying down some down. You'll be thanking me in 2010.

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.

Oh Dear, Auberge!

Increasingly wineries are opening restaurants ( see Red Leaf and Green Pinotage ) but how about a restaurant with its own vineyard?

I have long been keen to visit L’Auberge du Paysan because it owns the small vineyards growing on three sides of its attractive old Cape Dutch building. Pinotage bush vines produce the house wine for the restaurant, and it is the only place where one can get the wine.

But, sad to say, although just a few paces separate the vineyard from restaurant, the wine does not travel. But it is not a question of distance in metres but in years. Because the wine being served in 2007 is from the 2000 vintage and frankly, it is way too old. It has a stinky volatile nose, and although the wine doesn’t taste quite as poor, it is thin and lacking in fruit or life. The problem is the wine is oxidised; I returned the following day and tasted another bottle which was the same. The corks used are twin-tops which are designed for wines for early use not for being aged this long. The policy of the restaurant – they told me – is to wait until they have sold their entire stock of 2000 before bringing out the next vintage.

Somewhere there are store rooms full of later vintages. The 2007 Platter guide rated the 2004 L’Auberge du Paysan Pinotage as 3.5 stars and said the 2005 has “lively strawberry fruits and savoury overtones”, and the 2006 is currently being bottled. But when these wines will be available in the restaurant I can’t guess, because I can’t see anyone ordering the 2000 vintage a second time.


The French accented food is tasty and well presented, and the service is competent. But no wine represents a restaurant more than its house wine, and when it is not only has the restaurant’s name on the label but its own home grown wine inside the bottles it should not disappoint. I do not understand why their entire vintage range is not available. Why not let diners have the choice of young and old and the opportunity to buy a couple of bottles for comparison.



Oh, and please get some decent wine glasses - cheap thick Paris goblets are just not good enough for a restaurant of this calibre.

There is no Secret!

“There is no secret,” insisted Francois Roode, winemaker at Diemersfontein. (pictured). I had managed to trap him at the rear of his cellar with his back to the wall and barrels stacked either side blocking him in, and before he could get past me and back to the vintage he’d have to tell me the secret behind Diemersfontein’s cult ‘coffee and chocolate’ Pinotage.

“Anyone can make it,” Francois told me. “All they need is the fruit from the old dry-farmed bush vines grown on the farm plus some from nearby Wellington vineyards. “Grown without any watering, the berries are tiny with thick skins. Very distinctive flavours from Wellington terroir.”

“And?” I prompted. “Well,” replied Francois “ there are certain staves we use, they are called “Mocha toasted”. Last year the delivery by ship was severely delayed because of storms at sea and we experimented with some alternatives, but we realised we needed these special ones so had them air-freighted in just in time.”

“And?”

“Um – the yeast we use is important in developing the right flavours. And of course one cannot discount the winemaker’s techniques. But, seriously, anyone can make it.”

I tasted some of the new 2007 Pinotage, it was, of course every young and not yet exhibiting the overt coffee (or maybe I should say mocha?) and chocolate tones of previous years. “It still has to go through malolactic fermentation”, Francois told me, but the flavour changes day by day.”

But Francois is quietly confident he has another winner on his hands, and the 2007 vintage will keep the legion of fans for this most distinctive wine very happy.

“But really,” he insisted, “there is no secret.”

Red Leaf and Green Pinotage

Beyerskloof Winery has just opened a new visitor centre and restaurant, and being the home of Pinotage, the variety features throughout the Red Leaf restaurant’s menu. The signboard at the entrance announced it was the home of the Pinotage Burger and it seemed churlish to order anything else.

When I arrived yesterday owner/winemaker Beyers Truter himself was behind the bar prising the cork from a bottle of fizz. He poured glasses of deep pink sparkling Pinotage wine and pressed them in our hands. I don’t think you’ll find Beyers staffing the bar on a daily basis – but yesterday was special because the New Zealand Crusaders Rugby XV, in South Africa for the tri-nation Super 14 match, had taken over the rear patio and as an ex-rugby player himself, Beyers wanted to make them feel at home.

But Beyers found time to show us his new cellar, built under the restaurant.. There’s a lobby filled with Beyers memorabilia, his political election posters, framed rugby shirts, awards and photos galore leading into bins containing thousands of library wines resting in a welcoming cool 16 degrees.

Beyerskloof, with its red Pinotage leaf logo, is the single largest brand of Pinotage wine, and has just released an amazing 1.5 million bottles of their standard 2006 Pinotage. How to make wine in such quantities at such a keen price (33 Rand at the farm) and maintain quality is Beyers’ skill. Beyer’s doesn’t agree with machine harvesting. “There’s people out there crying for work”, he says. “If I need to harvest, I can get 100 pickers straight away. And it doesn’t matter if its Saturday or Sunday – they want to work.” It is not just harvesting. “We took fifty people and trained them to prune and layer vines and they did a perfect job. I gave each of them a certificate that they can show to any wine farm in the future. It says Beyerskloof trained them and that they can do the job. It’s little enough, but it helps.”

Beyers isn’t resting on his laurel. “You can’t stand still’” he says. Coming soon is a white Pinotage in the style of the light Portuguese Vino Verde, (the green wine, as in fresh and young) – he’ll be calling it Pino-Verde. "I'll give it a little petillance," he says. And a serious Methode Cap Classique sparkler is on the way.

Boot Camp

Beyers tells me he is planning on a winemakers boot camp where anyone who wants to learn how to make wine will be welcome. "I'll set up some tents, they'll be in teams working and sleeping together. They'll do everything - starting the yeasts, crushing etc and we'll mark the teams each day with prizes for the winning team. It'll be like army training," Beyers laughs, and reminisces about his days in the Army.

The new tasting room and restaurant were designed by his wife Esmé and took a year to build. Its colour is the pale grey of polished concrete, livened by clever lighting and stunning photographs of the farm, and featuring Beyerskloof's red Pinotage leaf logo.



Back in the restaurant, my enormous Pinotage Burger (right) arrived. It is a thick ground lamb meat patty on chargrilled aubergine and pepper, topped with Pinotage cooked onions and enclosed in a large fresh bread roll, with some tasty huge fried potato wedges on the side and a garnish of salad. And, currently on offer, each burger comes with two free 25cl mini bottles of 2005 Pinotage. We saved those for later and enjoyed a 2001 Pinotage Reserve. This was a Top 10 winner in 2002, and had matured superbly, with sweet fruit at the front over soft oak and a long long finish. I wish I could pour a glass of this for every Pinotage sceptic.

With a Pinotage Brandy Tart, with a side of purple Pinotage flavoured ice-cream I was replete.

There’s a new 'must visit' destination on the wine route: Beyerskloof and the Red Leaf.

Veraison in NZ

Sue Courtney visited Kerr Farm in Kumeu, New Zealand today, 17 February, just as their Pinotage grapes reached veraison -- and if that is a term new to you, then Sue will explain all if you click here and show Kerr Farm's spiffy new label design for the 2004 Pinotage. Jaison Kerr, who purchased the vineyard in 1989, says "The Pinotage 2004 called "PO4" is so good we designed a new label for it."



Meanwhile, I am in South Africa where the early ripening Pinotage is mostly picked and already fermenting, but I was intrigued to read a snippet in an article about picking Shiraz by J P Rossouw, of the release a single vineyard Pinotage from Meerendal. The wine, called 'Heritage Block' Pinotage 2005 comes from a vineyard planted in 1955, thus the vines were 50 years when the grapes were harvested, and they must join Bellevue Estate and De Waal's 'Top of the Hill' vineyard as the oldest in the world. Meerendal has been added to on my list of wineries to visit and I must taste 'Heritage Block'.

photo of Pinotage Veraison at Kerr Farm was taken by and is (c) Copyright Sue Courtney and is used with her kind permission.

Delheim is in the Pink

I think one of the hardest jobs for a winemaker is making the final blend from the various wine constituents. Even a 100% varietal wine is a blend from different tanks and barrels.

Delheim Winery pioneered Pink Pinotage, and today I was able to taste this years vintage from three tanks. Winemaker Brenda van Niekerk (pictured) told me that this year they started picking the grapes on 10 January -- very early as a result of the heat wave the Cape was having.

I found the first tank was a beautiful, almost fluorescent pink, quite lively with pear drop flavors, the second a darker pink had some crisp acidity and the third seemed to me just perfect, fruity dry and a good balance of fruit and acids. But, unlike Goldilocks, one can't just pick the favourite. And Delheim's Pink Pinotage is made off dry, and so soon Brenda and her colleagues will be blending and tasting and blending to get a wine better than the sum of its components that matches Delheim's house style and will continue to delight the regulars of this popular wine. And then their job isn't finished because they will make another Pink Pinotage for Woolworths own label and to their specifications.

And the red Pinotage? It is currently undergoing malolactic fermentation and wasn't ready for tasting.

And, off subject, but I also tasted a really cracking tank sample of a Columbar. This is another under appreciated variety (also known as Columbard and French Colombard) and --wow -- if you like a racy crisp mouthfilling white wine with passion fruit and guava flavours this is it. I'd bottle it as is, but Brenda will blend in some Muscat and Chardonnay to make an off dry low alcohol (less than 10% abv) wine for Woolworths South Africa where it will sold under the name Bianca Light.

(note for non SA readers -- Woolworths in South Africa is a up-market store specialising in clothing with a food & wine department. It is the equivalent of the UK Marks & Spencer)

Pink for Valentines Day

That day is almost upon us, and as I look out at the heavy snowfall covering everything with white and merging into the freezing fog in the near distance so that it seems I am in a white cocoon my thoughts turn to a warming mouthfilling red Pinotage.

But if you're looking for pink, Pinotage makes a most attractive wine . Award winning Pinotage makers Stormhoek have put a special Big Love cartoon label on their pink Pinotage, and are currently touring UK branches of Tesco promoting it. It is also available in Pick'n'Pay branches in South Africa

Wine Diva Caroline Lowings has chosen Spier Discover Pinotage Rose as her Valentines Pick of the Week; she finds it "a delicious profusion of candy, strawberry and lingering berries."

The last Pinotage Rose I had was Sperling and Sperling Pinotage Rose, made at Delheim Estate by Canadian winemaker Ann Sperling of Malivoire Wines in Ontario together with Victor Sperling of Delheim. It had a delightful rosy colour, natural Pinotage sweetness makes this dry wine very approachable drunk on its own as an aperitif. It is available in Ontario LCBO stores.

Back home, this is my Muller Thurgau vine.....

but I'm smiling because, if they've cleared the runways of snow, I'll be flying to Cape Town tomorrow, and I have a lunch booking at Delheim Estate for Monday where I might just order a bottle of their Pinotage Rose. Because it is going to be hot there!!

Two Pinotages Tasted

I came across these tasting notes for two wines I had with dinner last year.

Groot Constantia Pinotage 2003 (WO Constantia)

Beautiful deep black/red colour. There's a silky mouthfeel and a delicious rich depth, with plum, cherry, cinnamon and spices. Wonderful complex and rewarding wine.

Lindhorst Pinotage 2004 (WO Coastal)

Plummy colour, fruits of the forest nose. There's lots going on here, its an exciting elegant wine, complex and mouthfilling with cherries and spices on the back palate

No Weedy Wines Here!

2001 Hidden Valley Pinotage is one of the Pinotages that are stocked by the Ontario monopoly LCBO and thus available to Gordon Stimmel of the Toronto Daily Star who finds Pinotage 'weedy', see here

I opened my only bottle of this wine and found it had a dense garnet colour, with a little smokiness on the nose and front palate, but with a core of concentrated dense red fruits - black cherry and mulberry , a there is a little spice and tobacco and some soft drying tannins on the finish. Lovely stuff.

Hidden Valley's vineyards are in Devon Valley, access to which is along a no-through road that terminates at JC le Roux Sparkling Wine Cellars. Along that road is the sign shown here on the left. It always amuses me that there is such a large sign for a hidden valley. But the name comes from the owner of the vineyard and winery owner, Dave Hidden.

Some other Pinotages I've had recently were

2005 Southern Right Pinotage - Little staining of glass, light bodied and a tangy finish. This is an almost delicate wine with purity of fruit, certainly no block buster and seems like Burgundy is the inspiration.

2005 Groot Constantia Pinotage - There's a European feel to this wine, quite restrained with a good balance of red plum fruits and tannins and a very long finish.

2001 Bellevue Estate Pinotage - Black dense cherry and blackberry fruit flavours, tobacco underneath, hint of eucalyptus and with a very long finish. A very enjoyable serious wine made from 58 year old bush vine grown on sandy soil, aged 10 months in 50% new 300l American oak barrels. 13.5% abv. ABSA Pinotage Top 10 winner in 2002.

Weedy Pinotage?

I have heard all sorts of criticism of Pinotage, but I have never before heard it described as 'weedy'. However, Gordon Stimmel writing in the Toronto Daily Star says "And shiraz is becoming a hallmark high-quality red, which will, I hope, replace the still too weedy Pinotage (a crossing of pinot noir and cinsaut grape vines) that has for too long been the dominant signature red grape of South Africa."

But he does find one expression of the variety he likes - "Delheim 2006 Pinotage Rosé ($12.95, 87) with its gentle rose petals, lime peel, cranapple and strawberry stylings."

Mike Tipping, in The Press (York, England) admits that "South Africa's pinotage grape is not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. Beyerskloof Pinotage 2005 (Sainsbury's £5.99, 18/20) is astonishingly good for the price. It's spiky stuff, with smoky oak, brambles, chocolate and aniseed."

No weediness there, nor in this match for haggis as the anonymous 'Wine Seller' in Scotlands Daily Record reports: "The Bay Pinotage 2003 (South Africa) £5.99 - Coop. This is from Hamilton Russell Estate, one of South Africa's best wineries. It's big with dark, spicy, smoky fruit and sweet oak notes to balance. This needs food and is a perfect match for haggis."

I am off now to open a 2001 Hidden Valley Pinotage. It is one of the Pinotages stocked in the Ontario Monopoly store LCBO where it costs what looks like a very reasonable $22.95 (£9.85) - I recall Hidden Valley costing £16.95 in Sainsbury's several years ago. Not that I have seen it anywhere on the shelves recently.

Ashbourne -- Same Same?

Rarer than hens teeth, more tasted and talked about than drunk, 2007 sees a new vintage of Ashbourne released. The first was the 2001 vintage, now along comes 2004. Have I tasted it? Heck no -- none had arrived in the country in time for their recent UK agents tasting.

But South African food and wine writer JP Rossouw went to the Hamilton Russell Vineyards launch earlier this month. He writes in his blog "The 2004, to my palate, reminds me much more of pinotage, with more primary fruit. I would be surprised if this wine does as good a job of being the “fine wine without an obvious mother” that the 2001 was. Fuller fruit expression with more of pinotage’s ripe winegum notes open into a wine that is again very well-styled and age-worthy, but less mysterious. And perhaps this is a very good thing for the variety."

For JP, the 2001 " is a wine that you could secretly show in the company of Bordeaux blends – indeed few pick it as pinotage. This makes it something of a Pyrrhic victory for the variety. At once a wonderful wine and one that does not taste like any other pinotage, it presents little for the pinotage mainstream to cling to and is difficult to harness for the greater marketing of the grape."

Which again raises the question, what is Pinotage supposed to taste like? Far too many people first tasted Pinotage as an old fashioned nail-varnish and bitter monstrosity, and that is what they think the variety is. When you can get them to taste a decently made wine they say, well OK, but it doesn't taste like Pinotage.

Read the Dallas Post review of Fort Ross Pinotage and ask yourself if you'd guess the wine in question was Pinotage just by reading the review on its own. Why don't California and New Zealand Pinotages suffer from bitterness and nail varnish flavours?

Asbourne is a project by Anthony Hamilton Russell who firmly believes in Pinotage and the wine is unusual in that it doesn't name a grape variety. Anthony wants people to judge the wine on its merits.

JP remarks on a stylistic difference between the 2001 and 2004 Ashbournes, and I wonder if this old news item holds the answer. "An impressive flagship Ashbourne 2001 is made from 100% Pinotage from HRV’s Bastenburg vineyard. But grapes will be sourced from Southern Right’s site from the 2004 vintage." (Kim Maxwell writing on www.wine.co.za)

*and frequently Ashbourne is kept under the table and poured only for the great and good.

Virginia's Grayhaven releases Pinotage

Grayhaven Winery, in Central Virginia, USA, is about to release their first varietal Pinotage, but it hasn’t been easy, as Max Peple-Abrams told me.

"Our first Pinotage planting was in 2000," she says. " We lost every single plant - ouch. We scrambled and found another 30 vines and they all survived. We graft our own now and haven't had any problems....save for Japanese beetles and birds and drought and monsoons and all the lovely things mother nature throws our way in the great state of Virginia .... one can certainly understand why Thomas Jefferson didn't quit his day job!

We have less than 1/3 acre of Pinotage vines here and have to supplement with Pinotage grapes grown in California. We graft off our existing vines every year to increase our production - it's slow going. To meet the current demand for our Pinotage, we are looking to eventually have about 2000 vines. We thin our crops pretty well so the quality is high but our yield is less than 1/2 of what a large commercial vineyard would get from the same vine count.

Max's parents Charles and Lyn Peple founded Grayhaven in 1978, and Max fell in love with Pinotage after travelling in South Africa. She says “my husband is a native South African who grew up in Johannesburg & Cape Town. I spent several years trying to locate Pinotage nursery stock US when I found a few hundred in New York state. I think it's amusing that so many SA wineries are trying to distance themselves from Pinotage just when the rest of the world is getting a taste for it .... crazy people. Anyway, we hope you'll make it to Virginia some day and stop by for a visit. In addition to our 100% Pinotage, we'll be releasing an amazing 50/50 blend this year of Pinotage and Touriga.”

Grayhaven Winery’s location and details are on their website at www.grayhavenwinery.com

I’ve really enjoyed my times in Virginia and am looking forward to returning and tasting Virginia Pinotage – see also here

Early Cape Vintage

I like to time my visits to the Cape winelands for February as I enjoy seeing the bustle of the grape harvest, but it seems I will be too late this year when I arrrive on 11 February . "Soaring temperatures during the week of January 22nd brought early harvest activity in the Stellenbosch area," reports Kim Maxwell, for wine.co.za.

Jan Boland Coetzee of Vriesenhof says 2007 is 'the earliest harvest since '67, for me personally. It seems to be between 10 and 14 days earlier. The main cause is the heat. We had an inch of rain on New Years Eve, and nothing since. We call that the vetmaakreëntjie. It’s the combination of no rain, and the sudden heat we had last week. We were getting up to 37 degrees for two days.'

Vriesenhof started harvesting on January 23rd, and the cellar activity hasn’t stopped. ‘We’ve finished with Chardonnay and Sauvignon. The Sauvignon was in first, which is unusual for us, and then the Pinot Noir. So now we’re starting with Pinotage, and some Merlot is also ready,’ Coetzee reports. Are there sunburnt grapes? ‘No. Luckily not. The analysis at the moment is still unbelievable,’ he says. ‘pHs are fairly low, which is kinda nice. It’s a lot cooler,’ he said of the weather on January 29th. ‘We’ve been starting at 4am, because of the heat. We were harvesting right over the weekend.’


Full report at http://www.wine.co.za/news/news.aspx?NEWSID=9637&Source=News

Fort Ross 2002 Pinotage

"Fort Ross 2002 Pinotage, one of only a handful produced in California, is a marvel. Deep inky purple, it gives off concentrated aromas of dark red fruit – dried strawberries, blackberries, black cherries – spiced with white pepper and infused with smoke. The fruit grows luscious, creamy and mouth-filling but not in a big-wine, jammy way. Rather, it's like dipping through layers of mousse, with dry tannins and nice acidity that roll to a chewy finish."

I have not tasted Fort Ross's Pinotage -- yet! (I must get back to California soon ), but don't you just want to drink that wine after reading Kim Pierce's review in Dallas News?

Kim tells us that Fort Ross's owners Lester and Linda Schwartz came from South Africa, and that they imported the vines from there and had to wait 5 years for them to clear quarantine. The wait was worth it.

Jamie's 'edgy funk'

My old mate Jamie Goode - the Wine Anorak has never been a fan of Pinotage so I was pleased to see him giving a try to the inexpensive Ken Forrester's Petit Pinotage 2005. Jamie says "By not taking Pinotage too seriously - and interpreting it as a good-time, slightly off-the-wall variety - Ken has made an attractive, juicy berry fruited red with some green herbal and medicinal Pinotage funk, in a format where this funk helps add to the fun character of the wine. I'd serve this wine slightly chilled with honest, rustic fare. It has edges, and these are all too often lacking in inexpensive wines. The packaging is great, too." See
www.wineanorak.com/blog/2007/01/petit-pinotage.html