Wine Blogging Wednesday - Rijk's 2001 & Beyerskloof 2006

Wine Blogging Wednesday is a web institution in which people around the world blog on a theme. For the 37th WBW on 12 September, which is hosted by Dr Vino, the subject is “go native” with an indigenous grape variety.

Pinotage -- pronounced 'pinno-targe' -- is the local red variety of South Africa, having been developed there eighty years ago. It is a variety used to make wines in all styles, including sparkling, pink and fortified. But the best expression of the variety is in serious red wines. Since Pinotage is a fairly recent variety, and because there is no old world model to measure it against, wine makers have been interpreting the variety in several styles.

My take is that Pinotage’s taste profile should be found within the oenological region bounded by the southern Rhone, northern Italian red and Californian Zinfandel. There should be the rich spicinessof Zin and warm depth of Syrah with a twist of the gamey kick of Italian reds. Plus, a lush sweet mouthfeel that is uniquely Pinotage.

For WBW I am tasting two Pinotages. First is a mature wine from the 2001 vintage. This vintage is sold out now at the winery but you may still find it in a specialist shop. The second you should be able to find inexpensively almost anywhere.

Rijk's Pinotage 2001

The nose is closed, not offering much at all, and it feels quite firm on the front palate. But first impressions are deceptive because this wine soon opens in the glass to offer yummy blackberry fruit with a pleasing sweet uplift on the finish. There’s some acidity also, and integrated oak (40% new French oak barrels) is working its creamy magic behind the scenes. It has 14.5% abv but feels light and refreshing, making it an ideal food wine.

Rijk’s – pronounced ‘rakes’ – was created by the Dorrington family in the Tulbagh valley and named in honour of Rijk Tulbagh, governor of the Cape from 1751 to 1771, who gave his name to the town and valley. Rijk’s wines achieved almost instant success from their first bottling in 2000. Their very first Pinotage won Top 10 in 2001 and this Pinotage, from the 2001 vintage was a Top 10 winner in 2004.

Although it’s a bit of a drive from Cape Town, I like to visit Rijk’s to enjoy lunch in their open air restaurant shaded under vine leaves and overlooking a lake and vineyards. And, as usual in the Cape, I have a glass or two of cold Chenin Blanc with my food. Rijk’s make stunning Chenins which are not to be missed.

Although vines have been grown in Tulbagh for generations, the land bought by Neville Dorrington had never previously been cultivated. The Norringtons started planting vines in 1997 and three years later, when the winery had been built, they produced their first wines and now make about 11,000 cases annually from a variety of cultivars.

Details
Producer: Rijks Private Cellar
Winemaker: Charl du Plessis
Variety: 100% Pinotage
Appellation: Coastal
Alcohol:14.5%
Cost: around 18GBP/36 USD




Beyerskloof Pinotage 2006

Beyerskloof winery specialises in Pinotage - the red leaf label is the world's largest selling Pinotage brand - which is no surprise as its winemaking owner, Beyers Truter, championed the variety and is known as the Pinotage King.

Although made in huge quantities -- 1.5 million bottles of the 2006 were produced -- quality is maintained and all the grapes are grown only in the premium Stellenbosch region of South Africa.

I chilled this wine by putting it in the fridge for half an hour before opening -- which is how they serve it at Beyerskloof. On opening there is an strong fruity bouquet as if the wine can't wait to get into the glass. Well, let's pour it. It has a deep black core with a bright purple red rim, and a powerful fruity taste. This is a gutsy wine -- I often have it to accompany spicy Indian food with which it matches well.


There's black fruits, cherry and plums, some blackcurrant leaf and a lick of leather on the back palate. Somewhere I'm also getting black olive tapenade. This wine is so yummy I keep drinking for the sheer pleasure rather than analyzing. No matter, lets pour another glass. What do you mean 'the bottle is empty'?

Owner winemaker Beyers Truter is a man with boundless energy. Now a young 50 year old, he was a rugby-player in his youth before being appointed winemaker at Kanonkop Estate where he championed and elevated the Pinotage variety, along the way being named International Winemaker of the year at the 1991 Wine & Spirit Competition held in London. He is the only winemaker ever to twice receive the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de la Lalande trophy for the best blended red wine at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. That was in 1994 and 1999.

He founded his own Beyerskloof winery in 1998 on a property owned until 1895 by five generations of ancestors and so he became the sixth generation to farm this particular land.

Beyers Truter is active in the Church and in politics (he has stood for the ANC and founded a farmers political party) and his latest venture is the ‘Faith Fund’ charity focusing on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. This year at Beyerskloof he extended the cellars and opened the instantly popular ‘Red Leaf’ restaurant featuring dishes cooked in and with Pinotage -- my favourite being the Pinotage Burger.




Details
Producer: Beyerskloof
Winemaker: Beyers Truter
Variety: 100% Pinotage
Appellation: Stellenbosch
Alcohol:14%
Cost: 5 GBP/10 USD/35ZAR

Café Culture Coffee Pinotage Launched

KWV today launched a new Pinotage under the brand Café Culture – and the name suggests they are aiming at the market for coffee-toned Pinotages pioneered by Diemersfontein with its cult ‘coffee & chocolate’ Pinotage. Not that KWV is using the ‘c’ word – oh dear me no – please note that it is ‘mocha’.

KWV say “Café Culture is a new Pinotage wine, produced in an innovative style and presented in a trendy packaging that mirrors its vibrant target market perfectly. Café Culture is a brand that has been specially created for trendy, upmarket enjoyment. It has an air of the avant-garde and bohemian. It is associated with debate and banter. It is the Café Culture - a lively, vibey social spirit with a sense of adventure and exclusivity...even decadence. The modern, understated label emphasises the social nature of the wine, and recalls the smart café society of the Twenties and Thirties.”

The wine was crafted by winemaker Bertus Fourie who says the wine “is the most controversial style of Pinotage wine in the world. Most people crave it. It does not speak of 'terroir' as oak plays the dominant role. This accounts for its mocha and chocolate flavours – the richness of coffee beans, the smoothness of creamy chocolate and the freshness of ripe fruit. ”

Prior to taking up his post of Senior Winemaker at KWV, Bertus Fourie was the winemaker at Diemersfontein responsible for creating their innovative popular coffee'n'chocolate Pinotage. In a prescient item for South African magazine ‘Grape’, diarist ‘The Widow’ wrote in November 2005 that KWV were looking for ways of “making their red wines taste of coffee. 'Go out and hire Bertus ‘Starbucks’ Fourie at any price' was the directorial demand!”

The 2007 vintage wine (although the bottle image on the KWV site says 2006 – I wonder what happened to that wine) was harvested and underwent wood maturation (where it presumably picked up its coffee mocha flavours from the toasted oak) for 3 months before being blended and bottled July 2007. It has a hefty 14% abv and is recommended for drinking on its own or as an accompaniment to meat and pasta dishes as well as chocolate and berry desserts.


I like to think of myself as ‘trendy’ and ‘upmarket’ (I’m not so certain about ‘vibrant’ but ‘decadent’ probably fits) and so I look forward to tasting it…..

Record Entries for 2007 Top 10 Competition

**EXCLUSIVE**

This years Pinotage Top 10 Competition has attracted a record 148 entries -19 more than last year -and it welcomes 19 brands entering the competition for the first time.

The annual competition, now in its 11th year, is run by the producers' Pinotage Association and is sponsored by ABSA Bank. The competition is unusual in choosing 10 equal winners in order to be able to recognise and reward different styles and interpretations of South Africa's Pinotage grape variety.

As usual, wines from the Stellenbosch district are in the majority, but altogether 30 different Wine of Origins are represented. The three areas with most entries are Stellenbosch with 49 wines (33 in 2006), Paarl with 16 (17 in 2006) and Western Cape with 15 (5 in 2006). There were no entries from outside South Africa.

Entries come from six different vintages, with 40% from 2006 (59 wines) and 30% from 2005 (45 wines). The oldest vintage is 2002 (one wine) and there are six from the recent 2007 vintage.

This years Judges will be Duimpie Bayly(Pinotage Association Vice Chairman & Cape Wine Master), Charles Hopkins (winemaker), Chris Roux (winemaker), Dave Hughes (wine writer, Cape Wine Master), Neil Pendock (wine writer), Michelle Cherutti-Kowal (wine lecturer in England) and Julian Brind (UK Master of Wine). They will taste all the wines, then retaste the 20 highest scoring wines to determine the final winning Top 10.

**EXCLUSIVE**

Platter Guide is World's Best

**Exclusive to www. pinotage.org**

South Africa’s “John Platter Wine Guide” was tonight recognised as the world’s best.

Editor Philip van Zyl (pictured left) was in London to accept the Champagne Louis Roederer International Wine Writers ‘Domaines Ott’ Award for best Annual Wine Guide 2007.

Philip told me that that while he was delighted and thrilled to win the award, he accepted it on behalf of a dedicated team that has been working hard tasting and rating some 6000 wines in order to produce the guide.

Louis Roederer Champagne flowed in the heart of London’s theatre land as we celebrated the win. All, that is, except one man. Philip van Zyl declined his place at the award winner’s dinner in order to make last minute checks of the 2008 Guide. He was in London for this one night only – tomorrow he flies to Singapore with the manuscript of the guide and will spend the following week closeted with the printers and checking tproofs.

Philip van Zyl’s award consisted of a large engraved silver Champagne bucket, a magnum of Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne in a presentation box and a substantial cheque. “We will be having a real party when I get home,” said Philip.

Borrowing a mobile, he phoned home to tell his wife Cathy. “What did she say?” I asked. “I don’t know,” he replied, “She just screamed!!”

The panel of judges were Steven Spurrier (chairman), president of the Circle of Wine Writers; Christine Austin, wine writer, wine editor of The Larousse Gastronomique and winner of the Louis Roederer regional wine writer award 2006; Deborah Collinson of Deborah Collinson & Associates; Matt Harris, managing director of Planet of the Grapes; Charlotte Hey, publisher and editorial director of The Drinks Business and Helen Lederer, comedienne, writer and actress.

**EXCLUSIVE** You read it here first!

KariKari Pinotage 2005

Jules van Cruysen in Wellington, New Zealand, posted these notes about KariKari Estate, a winery in the far north of New Zealand that I've not previously heard of. He says

KariKari Estate Pinotage 2005

"This is their most expensive (NZ$45) and flagship wine and I think sums up their style the best – it had a dark inky purple color and a rich fruit forward nose with ripe lack plums and cedar coming through predominantly. These follow through on the palate but more as secondary flavours and are complemented by a fleshy, sinewy, almost mutton characteristics both in terms of flavour profile but also texturally.

These were also underpinned by rich and heady coffee and cacao flavours. It had a taut, drying tannin structure which offset the sweet ripeness of the wine. Personally I don't think this wine will be everybodies cup of tea (isn't this the case with everything) but I really enjoyed enjoyed it and think it is probably the best example of a Kiwi pinotage."


Karikari Estate's first vines were planted in 1998 with their first vintage in 2003. They now have 40 hectares planted with Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc, Malbec, Pinotage, Chardonnay, Viognier and Montepuliciano.


The Pinotage is their most expensive wine. Winemaker Ben Dugdale has this to say about the current 2005 Pinotage.


"What I aim for in this wine is a clear, pronounced varietal definition of Pinotage. The vines give us fist sized rather compact bunches of ovoid shaped berries. The skins are tight and reasonably thin, pulp quite firm and the seeds small. It reminds me in some ways of Pinot noir and that has influenced the method of vinification.


I prefer about 30-40% whole berries in the ferment, which allows a little carbonic fermentation aroma to lift the fruit in the resultant wine. I do not enjoy the characters that post ferment maceration give the wine so generally remove the skins within days (sometimes hours) of the wine reaching 0 brix.


Pressing lasts a few hours and I generally add the press wine back to the “free run”, unless there is a damn good reason not to. The wine undergoes malolactic in barrel and usually goes for about 2 months. The wine is racked post malolactic fermentation and sulphur added. The wine remains in barrel for about a year with regular topping. At the end of maturation the wine is pumped into tank and prepared for bottling. I felt there was no great benefit in fining or “adjusting” the acid in this wine – so was very happy to leave it alone"




Thanks to Jules for allowing me to post his tasting notes. Visit his blog here

Frozé -- Pink Pinotage on Ice (again)

Funny how innovative ideas seem to come out of the ether and strike several people at the same time. Earlier this year Stormhoek was grabbing the attention with a pink Pinotage designed for serving over ice.

And now here comes another. Frozé is, they say, "the refreshing fruity pink wine that's very nice ON ICE".

Frozé's web-site explains how the idea came about: 'One day, we were all talking about how much we all loved rosé wine but how rubbish a lot of them were - too sweet/too puny/too much like hard work. "We need a new type of rosé!" said someone (Paul thinks it was him, but Ant is sure it wasn't). "A fresh, clean-as-a-whistle rosé with loads of flavour, which costs less than a fiver but tastes like it should be more. Fruity and unpretentious. Fun. But also serious."

"Not too alcoholic, either," added Ant (or maybe Paul). "People want to chill out, not pass out."

So we got to work. We played around with lots of grape varieties and finally hit on a blend of Pinotage, Cinsault, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon that tasted just great. The kind of wine that you won't try to hide behind more expensive bottles at a friend's party. The kind of wine that makes you want to stroke a labrador's head or start singing Madeleine Peyroux songs. If you know what we mean.

We soon discovered that our wine tasted even nicer when we added a couple of ice cubes. Don't ask us why. Maybe the hydrogen atoms trigger a complex molecular reaction with previously inert flavour compounds in the grapes. Maybe it's magic. Or perhaps it's simply the case that everything gets better with ice.'

Frozé is the inspiration of a UK company called Off-Piste Wines Ltd. It is a blend of Pinotage (42%), Cinsault (26%), Merlot (18%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (14%) -- 'but that might all change next year' they say, and at 12.05% abv is deliberately produced with a lower alcohol level. It is made by Christian Visser at Wamakersvallei Winery in Wellington.

Frozé is said to be stocked by the major UK supermarkets, inclusing Tesco, Waitrose and the Co-op, although I haven't come across it.

Maybe the real problem is that, as they say, it is a wine for outdoors on hot sunny days. And this years summer has been on of torrential rain, floods, and cold. Not ideal barbie weather -- or for ice cold wines.

Congratulations to De Wet and Annelie Viljoen!

Congratulations to De Wet & Annelie Viljoen on the birth of their second son, Bernardt, on 25 July. De Wet, who is the winemaker at Neetlingshof Estate, said “He weighed 3.22kg and is long with big hands and feet just like his dad!”

I visited Neetlingshof and tasted wine with De Wet earlier this year: my report is here.

Raka Pinotage 2003

Raka's 2003 Quinary blend, so named because it contains all five Bordeaux varieties, really impressed everyone at the tasting I gave last week.

So I thought I'd open my only bottle of Raka Pinotage -- also from the 2003 vintage. This was a winner in the 2004 Top 10 Competition for which I must take some credit because I was one of the judges that year.

Blackberries in a glass was the initial nose and taste. The wine was pale for a Pinotage and it was very soft. I wondered if it was because the grapes all came from such young vines. Raka was only established in 2002 way down the coast from Hermanus, inland from Stanford in an area so new that the Wine & Spirit Board had to create a new ward -- Klein River -- just for them and thus their vineyards are recently planted.

Attractive as the wine was to begin with, with blackberries and red cherry flavours, as time went on a very dry and woody finish became apparent. Maybe bottle variation, but this wine was not as delightfully fruity as it was in April last year when I last drank it. This is a now a wine that requires food, and I think it should be drunk sooner than later.

Details.
Alc: 13.5%
WO: WO Klein River
Drink: now

Last Call for Top 10 Entries

Closing date for this years Pinotage Competition is 15:00 Thursday 30 August 2007. The complete rules and entry forms are still available on the Association's web site at http://www.pinotage.co.za/.

The Pinotage Association have simplified the requirements and say "It has never been so easy to enter! Only 900 litres of a wine have to be produced to qualify for entry. No proof of certification, no specimens of labels; only a WSR 2A certificate of analysis is required along with the entry form."

And for the first time, the competition is open to Pinotages made outside South Africa.

If there are any queries, contact Pierre Loubser, Manager: Pinotage AssociationTel. +27 (21) 855 1128 Fax +27 086 502 9417e-mail: pierre.l@mweb.co.za

Pinotage Is Champion!!

Pinotage from Wamakersvallei won the General Smuts Trophy –- the shows highest honour-- at the 2007 SA Young Wine Awards. It is the first time the Trophy has been won by Pinotage since records began*.


Wamakersvallei's wooded 2007 Pinotage was chosen for the award, beating 2026 other wines from 183 contestants. And the wine was also named SA Champion Pinotage. The awards were announced on 23 August.


Cellarmaster Hugo Truter (pictured right) received the trophy on behalf of Wamakersvallei.


The annual South African Young Wine Show gives winemakers the opportunity to showcase the pick of their current vintage. The Show judges the quality of wines that are still at the beginning of the vinification process - within the year of production - and have some way to go before they are finally blended and bottled in order to recognise the production capabilities of a wine cellar. Very few of the wines are for sale or are in their final form at the time of being judged.



*It is part of the Pinotage legend that PK Morkel of Bellevue Estate won the Smuts Trophy in 1959 with Pinotage, an event that shook the Cape wine industry and which led to many farms planting the new variety. However it wasn't until 1987 that the winning variety was also recorded. Prior to then neither the South African National Wine ShowAssociation nor Agri-Expo (the previous organisers of the show) knows with which wines the winning wineries achieved their win.

Simonsig Keeps Fizzing

Just look at the fizz in that glass!

That bottle was was one of a case opened two days previously, on Wednesday, for a tasting I was giving. About two thirds was left so we stuck a cork in the neck, brought it home and stuck it in the fridge. Friday we opened it to pour a pre-dinner glass glass and recorked it. I expected it would have gone flat by Saturday, but no -- and there's the proof.

Simonsig were the first South Africa winery to make a methode champenoise sparkler, thirty five years ago, and their expertise shows.

This is a super summer fizz; beautiful bright pale salmon pink colour containing billions of tiny bubbles. It is a vintage Brut but has a sweet mouthfeel from the Pinotage - yup it is 95% Pinotage with 5% Pinot Noir. Indeed, as a regular Brut Champagne quaffer, I found it a tad too sweet when not chilled right down, but this proved to be a real crowd pleaser. The only reason there was any left after the tasting was because some people asked for small measure since they were driving.


Details:
Name: Simonsig Brut Rosé
Price: UK £11.95
Alc: 12.5%
WO: WO Stellenbosch
Vintage: 2005

Nelson's Creek Celebrates 20 Years

Nelson's Creek invite you to join them at the farm this Saturday, 25 August, to celebrate their 20th Anniversary.

It was in 1987 that Alan Nelson and his family (pictured left) acquired the bankrupt farm which with hard work they turned into one of South Africa’s prominent family-owned wine farms.

Entrance plus wine, cheese and olive tasting is free of charge from 09:00 - 13:00.

Nelson’s Creek and Nelson Estate wines, together with olives and cheeses from leading family producers will be sold on auction at bargain prices, starting 11:00. Quad bikes will also be on hire for vineyard tours and there will be mini quads and pony rides for the kids.

The farm makes Pinotages under the Nelson Estate and Nelson’s Creek labels.

For details see here

Congratulations to the Nelson family -- here's to the next 20 years.

Zero 5* 4 2008

No, it is not mathematics day at the Pinotage Club, 0 5* 4 2008 decodes to No 5 stars for 2008

The 2008 Platter Guide 5 star winners have just been announced and it is disappointing to not to see any Pinotages listed. Although two top Pinotage wineries -- Kanonkop & Beyerskloof -- both achieve the coveted 5 stars, it is for Cabernet based wines. Especially galling in the case of Beyerskloof since the 5* winner is the only wine of their eight wines that doesn't contain Pinotage.

The winners are:

• Axe Hill Cape Vintage Port 2005
• Beyerskloof Field Blend 2003
• Boplaas Cape Tawny NV
• Boplaas Cape Vintage 2005
• Boplaas Vintage Reserve Port 2005
• Bouchard Finlayson Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2005
• Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2006
• Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Limited Release 2006 (Woolworths)
• Cape Point Vineyards Semillon 2007
• De Krans Vintage Reserve 2005
  
• De Trafford Shiraz 2005
• Edgebaston-Finlayson Edgebaston GS Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
• Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2006
• Forrester Meinart FMC Chenin Blanc 2005
• Hartenburg "The Mackenzie" 2005
• JP Bredell Cape Vintage Reserve 2003
• Kanonkop Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
• Paul Cluver Weisser Riesling Noble Late Harvest 2006
• Radford Dale Gravity 2005
• Sequillo Cellars White blend 2007
• Steenberg Vineyards Magna Carta 2007
• Vergelegen White 2006

A very good result for Boplas and Cape Point Vineyards each with three wines. I'll bet the Woolies shelves have already been emptied of that Sauvignon Blanc!

South African wine specialists CyberCellar have mixed packs of 2008 5* winners. CyberCellar now deliver SA wines in the UK and USA as well as South Africa. They say they can deliver almost anywhere on the planet!

Drinking Kanonkop '04

A question from Richard Auffrey in Stoneham, Massachusetts, got me thinking.

He said "I recently purchased a few bottles of the 2004 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage. I am very much of fan of Pinotage. I read your blog, the Pinotage Club, and saw your post of 8 May. You stated that Kanonkop Pinotages need bottle aging and should not be drank until they are ten years old. Would that apply to the 2004 as well?"

I checked through my records (thank you CellarTracker) and saw that, although I had tasted Kanonkop 04 on several occasions, I hadn't sat down and enjoyed a leisurely bottle with a meal.

So with a roast beef dinner (with roasted potatoes & parsnips, sautéed leeks, steamed cauliflower florets and Yorkshire pudding) planned it was an ideal opportunity to retrieve a bottle of Kanonkop 2004 Pinotage from my EuroCave. The back label graph suggested that it wouldn’t enter its optimum drinking window before 2008. But Richard was waiting on the answer……

The wine is very dark, indeed opaque black with a dark red rim. The immediate impression on the nose and palate is of bright berry fruits. (We’ve recently been blackberrying and this wine brought back memories).

You wouldn't know that the wine has spent 16 months in small new French oak barriques because the tannins were very soft and integrated. Over the course of dinner the wine opened up, revealing layers of flavour under the initial bramble berries like a exotic dancer discarding veils. There was coffee, dark chocolate and black pepper. Later tobacco leaf and then a little smoky bacon developed on the finish. This was drinking very nicely now but I’m going to keep some back and I look forward to seeing how they age in bottle.

So there you go, Richard. Drink now with pleasure, but be sure to retain some -- for this wine has a lot going for it. And thanks for the nudge to open this super wine.



The stickers are Veritas 2006 Double Gold and 2006 Pinotage Top 10 winner.

Details:
Price: Cellar door=140 ZAR, UK £17,USA=$28
Alc: 14.5%
WO: Estate WO Simonsberg Stellenbosch
Vines: Up to 59 years old
Drink: 2008-2020+

Pinotage & Pebbles

Tired of the constant sniping at Pinotage on the UK Wine Forum from those who say they dislike the variety, Keith Prothero bet all-comers £200 that they could not detect a Pinotage when tasted blind with other wines.

And from a line-up that included Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Chopin-Groffier, Ornellaia, and Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle only two of the ten contestants correctly identified Grangehurst 2000 as the Pinotage.

More than £1100 was raised for Keith's favourite charity, The Pebbles Project which offers support to children with special educational needs, particularly those whose lives are affected by alcohol in the Western Cape of South Africa. Keith Prothero, who lives in the Cape for six months every year and is a partner in a soon to be launched Swartland winery, has been a supporter of the Pebbles Project from its beginning.

Contenders paid £100 to cover the cost of the meal and wines in a London restaurant and stood to take home £200 if they identified the Pinotage.

But it proved harder than they thought. One wine-lover thought Grangehurst 2000 Pinotage was Mouton Rothschild while another picked it as their Wine of the Night, saying that it was "Medium dark, some slightly age. Brilliant nose, very open, chocolate and gamey. Palate is rich, with undergrowth, pepper and fruit. A lovely streak of bright acidity runs through this, almost like a Germanic wine. But also has menthol character like a Henschke, and some austerity like a Rhone. Maybe a very good Hermitage?"

The wines were

• Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Chopin-Groffier 1994
• Quilceda Creek cab 2000
• Warwick Trilogy 2001
• Terre Brune Santadi 1998
• Grangehurst Pinotage 2000
• Chateau Meyney 1982
• Three Foxes "The Vixen" Syrah 2004
• Murrieta Castillo Ygay Reserva Especial 1989
• Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1991
• Grant Burge Shadrach 1994
• Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1994
• Ornellaia 1990

The two winners kindly donated their prizes to Pebbles.

Now Keith is taking his challenge north. Whatever the individual results, the one certain winner will be the Pebbles Project.

This article was originally published in the July issue of WineLand magazine under the title 'Spot The Pinotage'.

Morrison's 'The Best' 2005 by Bellevue Estate

Back from two days at the Festival of History. We spent all Sunday there before returning to the hotel to pick up our car, then it was a tiring drive back down the M1 motorway.

We collected a takeaway from Mumtaj (Karachi Kebab & Chana Massala for me). We were hungry and tired so I just grabbed a handy wine which happened to be Morrison's 'The Best' 2005 Pinotage.

And what a little cracker it is. Ignore the ghastly label, there are lots of bright blackberry fruits, no rough edges, just pure drinking pleasure.

In fact I have tasted this wine before. It is made by Bellevue Estate where it is available as part of their new empowerment project wine range under the Sizanani label. (and by chance I enjoyed the matching Chenin Blanc at a barbecue a couple of weeks ago).

I must return to this Pinotage and pay it more attention.

Details:

Price: Cellar door=22 ZAR (as Sizanani), UK Morrisons £6.99

Alc: 13%

WO: Stellenbosch

Drink: now-2010

Cullinan View 2005 by Robertson Winery

We spent the weekend at the Festival of History. There were hundreds and hundreds of historical reeanactors and we watched battles between Vikings and Normans, Parliamentarians against Royalists (pictured left Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax commanding the Parliamentarian Army, surveys the battlefied), First World War German Triplanes strafing a British Army patrol, Roman legions drill and more. There were encampments representing forces from the Bronze Age up to the 2nd World War, even a Boer fighter's camp. There were mediaeval smithies pumping leather bellows to forge iron tools, knights jousting, birds of prey, jesters and many wood fires cooking everything from whole pigs to bread. And the constant sounds of explosions from cannons, mortars, flint-lock guns, maxims and massed musket fire. There were historical workshops and talks by eminent historians.

But we found no wine at the Festival other than Elderberry Port (are they allowed to call it that?) and other fruit wines in the souvenir marquee. So back at the hotel I scanned the wine list with a sinking heart, and settled on Cullinan View 2005 Pinotage. This is a brand that I have only seen in hotels and the last time I ordered it it many years ago, it- the 97 vintage - was very disappointing.

However this 2005 vintage wine (Wine of Origin Robertson) was delightful; light bodied with an abundance of raspberry fruit flavours. Really shows how good even basic Pinotage is these days. The number A280 on the back label shows it was produced by Robertson Winery. Well done chaps!

We enjoyed it so much that we ordered another bottle the following night. Cost £15.95 but a quick Google shows the price varies greatly depending how rapacious the markup is.

Parliamentary cavalry attack Royalist pikemen

WWI British soldiers relax in their trench

Beyerskloof 1998 & 2003 Impress

On Robert Parker's forum Guy Des Rosiers is impressed by a 1998 Beyerskloof.

1998 Beyerskloof Pinotage. Fully mature, delicate and complex, but with plenty of fruit left, this was a real gem. To give you an idea of the quality of this wine, we also drank a bottle of 2004 Termes that evening. The Beyerskloof was far and away WOTN* (the Termes, of course, was very tannic and young, but the quality was unmistakable. Yet the Beyerskloof still stood out). When I looked up this producer and realized that the current release of this wine costs about $10, I was shocked.

Guy told me "I just wish I had taken a more detailed note on the 98 Beyerskloof. It was truly an impressive bottle of Pinotage."

While over on Robin Garr's Wine Lovers Page forum Jay Labrador is enjoying the 2003 vintage

2003 Beyerskloof Pinotage. Quite dark, medium-bodied, juicy. Sweet fruit. Tobacco, leather, roasting meat and a distinct rubbery character. Soft tannins, decent finish. Not as good as Kanonkop but very good for me. Went nicely with risotto and Italian sausages. It may seem a bit odd but this went really well with olives stuffed with pimentos which really brought out the sweetness and fruit in the wine.

(* WOTN= wine of the night

Thanks to both Guy Des Rosiers & Jay Labrador for permission to reproduce their tasting notes.

Beef in Pinotage

Michael Olivier (pictured right) is a food and wine writer, broadcaster and hospitality industry consultant -- and runs Noshnews which is South Africa's premier wine & food website.

He emails to say: "I made this dish today and thought of you and your pppppassion for PPPPPinotage and thought you would like to have this recipe - it comes with my love."

Michael Olivier's Beef in Pinotage

I attended a launch of a Pinot Noir recently at Caveau at the Josephine Mill in Newlands. If you live in Cape Town and have not visited there, hasten towards it at your earliest possible convenience. The main course was a traditional Burgundian dish Coq au Vin. I thought of Boeuf Bourguignon a traditional Burgundian beef dish made from a braising beef and Pinot Noir and a staple of every self respecting 1970’s Bistro. Further thought lead me to create a dish made with Pinotage, our native South African grape. Using the components of both the Coq au Vin and the Boeuf Bourguignon, and taking a bit of license with the cut of beef, perhaps more Osso Bucco than braising beef, I landed up with this dish which I think does credit to Pinotage and the men and women who make it.


You’ll need :

• Seasoned flour [a dinner plate sprinkled with flour, well seasoned with sea salt, freshly milled black pepper and sweet smoked paprika]


• 2.5kg beef shin on the bone cut into 20mm thick slices


• sunflower oil


• extra virgin olive oil


• 4 onions - sliced


• 6 fat cloves garlic - chopped


• 3 stalks celery - sliced


• 1 bottle 750ml Beyerskloof Pinotage


• 1½ tsp dried thyme


• 3 bay leaves


• 2 litres good beef stock


• 1 tin 70g tomato paste


• 250g chorizo sausage - sliced


• 12 pickling onions - peeled and left whole with the root intact


• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method:

Preset the oven on 180C. Prepare the seasoned flour by sprinkling a thick layer of flour onto a dinner plate and seasoning it well with sea salt, freshly milled black pepper and sweet smoked paprika. Reserve any left over flour for later use should you decide to thicken the sauce. Have ready a large ovenproof cast iron casserole with a thin layer of sunflower oil in the base. Heat the oil, and two to three pieces at a time, dip the meat into the seasoned flour and brown slowly but well on both sides, setting aside on a large plate to catch any juices which might run off.

When all the meat has been browned, wipe the casserole out with kitchen paper and cover the base with the olive oil. Add the onions and braise over low heat until turning golden. Add the garlic and stir fry for a while, add the celery and stir fry again. Add the thyme and bay leaves then pour in the bottle of Pinotage and bring to the boil, and simmer to reduce the wine by at least half. Add the beef stock, the tomato paste, the chorizo and the pickling onions. Season well and add back the meat and the juices which have collected on the plate.

Cover and cook in the preset oven for 2½ hours at least, remove from the oven and skim off any fat on top which may have accumulated there. If the meat is tender, adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve. You may want to reduce the sauce a bit by taking it off and boiling it in a small saucepan to the right consistency.

Serves 6

Wine suggestion:

Pinotage is called for and Grangehurst, Landskroon, Onderkloof, Simonsig Redhill, Swartland or Mountain Oaks [Organic Pinotage no less] would do admirably.

Many thanks Michael for the recipe -- sounds delicious -- and that is an interesting selection of recommended wines including yet another one new to me. I must add Onderkloof to the list. Though since we're'cooking with Beyerskloof I would be tempted to have a Beyerskloof Reserve in my glass.

Paul Bulas Loves Pinotage

Paul Bulas lives in Canada and counts Pinotage as his favourite vinifera wine -- because Paul is a passionate champion of native American and hybrid varieties. Paul has contributed many tasting notes to the Pinotage Club over the years, and in this open letter to South African winemakers he tells of his own experiences and love of the variety.

My first experience with Pinotage came in 1998 - it was a 1995 Zonnebloem from Stellenbosch. I had never before tried varietal Pinotage simply because I hadn't known about it. I was immediately struck by the uniqueness of its aromas compared to those of the ubiquitous Cabernets and Merlots that I was focusing on in those days. Pinotage had its own distinctive nose typically comprising wild strawberry, banana, earth, elderberry and leather. I was fascinated by the uniqueness of this wine which, although strictly speaking was a "New World" wine, had something very serious and classical about it. I later came to more precisely identify that character as being a mix of jubilant forward fruit married to a savoury mid-palate and a stern, dry, tannic structure - all these aspects being fascinatingly intertwined into a single wine. I loved the Lapsang-Souchong-like smokiness in the finish, as well as the similarity of the finish to certain black-skinned table grapes that can have a nice tannic kick when you chew the skins. I also immediately found foods that I felt matched naturally with Pinotage, and began buying more Pinotage after that one tasting than any other red vinifera wine.

Over the years I have found that Pinotage goes really well with any food containing tomatoes, eggplant and bacon (the savoury aspect marries well to these) as well as sharp, old cheeses. Beefsteak grilled over hardwood coals is yet another sublime match; I especially enjoy oaked Pinotage with this (oaked Pinotage is actually my favourite sort in general). Cheddar cheese and potato perogies topped with fried bacon bits and onions - a well-known meal among those of Polish extraction! - is a surprising but very apt match for quality Pinotage as well. And I can't think of any better wine to serve with any food cooked outdoors over hardwood - in effect, braaied food - than Pinotage.

In recent times, it seems, the debate has heated up over whether Pinotage should even be South Africa's flagship variety - and there are voices that even call for its outright elimination from Cape Blends. I cannot ally myself with those views, since what they entail is that South Africa should simply get on the bandwagon of conformity and uniformity, and just produce more of the standby wines that are already so prevalent around the world. Now, this is not to say that South Africa's Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz aren't world class - they most certainly are - but surely Pinotage is a grape that first appeared on South African soil; it is a uniquely South African creation; there is history behind it, and the wine is unlike any other. This, and the fact that quality viticultural and winemaking techniques are available today, should be reason enough to see the value in making top-notch estate-grown Pinotage for SA wine lovers and the rest of us who love SA wine to enjoy.

This Canadian is a supporter of Pinotage who really would like all South African producers to know that they are doing something wonderful: they are adding to the diversity of the world wine tapestry by producing fine varietal Pinotage. Please continue making the finest, most classical Pinotage wines you can. Don't listen to the hype out there that would see this classic South African red grape torn out or relegated to low-quality bulk wines. Pinotage is a wine that has many admirers, and I hope that this fact will always be your strength and hope as you work in the vineyards and cellars of South Africa's winelands.

Thanks Paul, and remember that I am keeping a bottle of Zonnebloem 1994 Pinotage in my cellar for your next visit to England .

Paul's Hybrid Wine blog is at http://hybridwines.blogspot.com/

Zonnebloem Release Matured Pinotage

Unless you store them yourself, mature Pinotages are hard to find. However there is good news if you are in South Africa.

Zonnebloem have announced that they are releasing a limited amount of 10 year old Pinotage.
They have been retained for optimal maturation after the initial release of the Zonnebloem Pinotage 1997. They say this is now at its peak in terms of quality and maturity - "Made in a fruitier style, the Zonnebloem Pinotage 1997 is deep ruby red in colour with ample strawberry flavours and well-integrated wood and tannin structure. "

Zonnebloem Pinotage 1997 is available exclusively from Makro at around R54.90 which seems a remarkably reasonable price for a 10 year old wine. Based on my recent experiences, I'd try one bottle first before splashing out on a case.

Zonnebloems website at http://www.zonnebloem.co.za/ (beware, this is a tediously slow to load flash site)


(news and image courtesy of http://www.wine.co.za/)

Pinotage Impresses Press

Neil Pendock reports on a press trip to Pinotage Country organised last week by Pinotage Association sponsors ABSA bank.

Last week’s press tour ended at Meerendal, home to one of the oldest Pinotage vineyards in the Cape, the aptly named Heritage Block, with its tiny berry grapes, tiny yields and a uniquely perfumed flavour profile. Wines made from this block confirm the point made by Meerendal GM Guy Kedian that "there are as many styles of Pinotage as there are producers".

From the surprisingly Bordeaux-style Simonsig Frans Malan ’97 Cape blend to the surprisingly juvenile unwooded Simonsig ’95 to the 1.12 million bottles of Truter’s fruit driven Beyerskloof Pinotage ‘06, great value at R33.50 a bottle. From the seamlessly elegant Allée Bleue ’95 made from tiny high altitude bush vine grapes from the Piekenierskloof to the Devon Valley fruit bombs Zaine Pritchard sells to Russia and the exciting Simonsig MCC ’06 made from Pinotage and Pinot Meunier – a step up from two previous vintages snapped up by the UK Waitrose supermarket chain.

From Truter’s violet-infused Cape/Portugal blend of Touriga Naçional and Pinotage to Kaapzicht’s effortlessly elegant Steytler Vision Cape Blend presented by the effortlessly elegant Yngvild Steytler and the Pinotages De Wet Viljoen makes at Neethlingshof which confirm just how seriously Cape Legends takes sometimes pilloried Pinotage.

My standout wine of the pilgrimage was a 1991 Kanonkop Pinotage, remarkably fresh and free of blemishes for a 16 year old teenager. Primary fruit flavours were still evident and had been complimented by the evolution of mushroom and forest floor flavours from the Pinot Noir parent of the grape. Along with the still vibrant 1982 Meerendal, it confirms the remarkable longevity of Perold’s grape.

A vertical tasting of Kanonkop vintages from the early ‘90s side-by-side those of a decade later was revealing: the ‘90s wines all had 10% less alcohol for wines made from grapes harvested from the same vineyard at approximately the same harvest date. Kanonkop winemaker Abrie Beeslaar offered several explanations – from Global Warming to cleaning-up the vineyard for leaf-roll virus. As he commented "the worse a vineyard looks, the better the wine you can make from the grapes – totally contrary to what we were taught at University". Leaf-roll virus inhibits sugar accumulation and increases hang-time – leading Beeslaar to comment, "I don’t believe leaf-roll virus is 100% negative" – a point often made by Chardonnay champion Mike Dobrovic with his Mulderbosh barrel fermented wines made from grapes grown on virus-infected vines.

On the subject of alcohol levels, Beeslaar notes that Pinotage fermented in traditional open cement tanks (like those from Jacobsdal, Kanonkop and Allée Bleue) also can expect up to 1% lower alcohols as compared to those fermented in stainless steel tanks.

Meerendal's Guy Kedian summed up "to those who say that Pinotage is not the varietal we should pin our flag to, I totally disagree. We should ignore the pretentious folk trying to turn it into something it isn’t, for their own benefit. At the end of the day, it’s only wine – not some mystical thing".

Source -- www.wine.co.za. Reposted with thanks.

Pinotage's Mystery and Adventure

Swati Mylavarapu, travelling after finishing following a masters at Oxford last month, discovered Pinotage on her recent visit to South Africa. She writes in her Global Glutton blog:

“I found Pinotage to be an intriguing wine. Its taste varies considerably even between neighboring Stellenbosch estates. What I found to stay constant between vintages and estates, though, was a deep red wine with smoky and earthy flavors, mineral undertones, and sometimes notes of tropical fruits. Sound unusal? It was. Not quite as full bodied as a Shiraz, but not as heavy as a Cab Sauv.

I tried a Simonsig RedHill Pinotage (2004) there which definitely satisfied (although if I had a bottle I’d age it a bit longer).

But what I was really pleased with was a Pinotage (2005) I tried at Middlevlei estate. I didn’t find it as “big” as the Simonsig, but it was a nice, medium-bodied wine, not overpowering with its black berry flavors, with a nice hint of oak and smoke. Something to be had with a nice, spiced red meat dish (from the braai, perhaps?). And a few sips into the glass, there was something about the wine’s flavor that still played with my taste buds – exactly what I like in a glass of wine, a bit of mystery and adventure with an unfamiliar varietal!"



Read more about Sati's travels at http://globalgluttononline.blogspot.com/


Extracts quoted with permission

Seance with Smoking Gun

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

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


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


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


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

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





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

Domenico's Elegant Pinotage

"It’s a pleasant surprise to find a Pinotage that not only is elegant but also made in the U.S." writes Jean Deitz Sexton on Appellation America.com . "Domenico Wines has produced a gorgeous Pinotage: the 2004 Domenico Amador County Pinotage. One of the things I like about this wine is that it is juicy – none of that unctuous, heavy mouth feel that so often creeps into California wines. It has a luscious blueberry nose, notes of blackberry and cayenne pepper on the mid palate and notes of tobacco, cigar and earth but in the right balance to add interest and depth. The tannins are evident and the finish is long and satisfying. This wine can stand up to hearty fare."

Domenico have also impressed the judges; this year their Pinotage 04 won a Silver medal at the New World International Wine Competition and a Bronze at the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition. (I wonder if they'll enter the 2007 Pinotage Top 10)

Domenico is a new name to me, and I am glad to welcome them to the Pinotage family. They are not growing Pinotage themselves, but have bought them from California's largest Pinotage vineyard, Sutter Creek Vineyards which I visited in 2002 and whose own tasty Pinotage is sold under the Sutter Ridge label. The vineyards was planted by John Bree Snr (pictured right in his Pinotage vineyard). Sutter Creek is on a ridge high in Amador County which is in the foot-hills along the Nevada border.

Simonsig’s Boldest Harvest

I always enjoy opening Simonsig’s colourful newsletter when it pops through my letterbox, and in the latest issue Cellar Master Johan Malan writes of the 2007 vintage:

The 2007 harvest dawned on Simonsig with no forewarning. The early summer prelude to the 2007 vintage was perfectly cool up to mid January when temperatures rose dramatically and Mother nature prematurely gave birth to the fruit of yet another years’ labour – heralding the earliest start in the history of the estate.

It was the boldest harvest for Pinotage yet with all the different vineyards producing top-notch concentrated red wines with velvety smooth rip tannins. The berry intensity of this variety holds good promise for another sell out vintage of the Simonsig Brut Rose, out alluring Cap Classique blend of Pinotage, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier launched in 2006.”

And heartiest congratulations to Simonsig winemakers Van Zyl du Toit and Debbie Burden (pictured right) whose engagement the newsletter announces.

Beaumont’s Elegance And Finesse

Winemaker Sebastian Beaumont writes with news from Walker Bay of Beaumont Wines vintage:

“A mild early part of summer with December and early January being the coolest in 30 years, the reverse of the season in Europe it seems, was a sign of an excellent harvest to come. The grapes on the vines were looking fantastic – healthy, small berries and there were already some great flavours in the early varieties.

Pinotage was the first red to be harvested. We have some old Pinotage vineyards that were planted when Raoul and Jayne first arrived on the farm in 1974 that have such a different tannin and flavour make up compared to the younger vines. We will be making a 50/50 blend of the two blocks which we find contributes to the elegance and finesse of our Pinotage.”

Mellasat Pinotage - Good News / Bad News

Mellasat is another name new to me, and having discovered them I can report that there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that they have made some super Pinotages but the bad news is that are ceasing production -- 2002 was the last -- and are instead using the fruit to meet demand for their succesful flagship Mellasat'M' - a Cape Blend of Shiraz, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mellasat is located in the Klein Drakenstein foothills above Paarl and is owned by the Richardson Family. Owner/winemaker Stephen Richardson is a British farmer from Norfolk, England who purchased Dekkersvlei farm in 1996 and set about restoring its Victorian wine cellar, installing modern equipment and planting red varieties. The name 'Mellasat' is an anagram of the first two letters of each of the family members names.

They have an entry level series named Dekkers Valley and the premium Mellasat range.

I tasted the Mellasat 2001 and 2002 Pinotage (pictured above with some just picked home grown courgettes) over two nights.

2001 Mellasat Pinotage WO Paarl

Incredibly dense black colour, brick rim. Full bodied mature wine with soft mulberry fruit flavours, peppery and with a spicy finish.

2002 Mellasat Pinotage WO Paarl

Dense colour, red rim. Brightberry fruit on front palate, some chocolate and toffee flavours, soft tannins and a really spicy finish.

Our small tasting panel was equally divided between the two wines, half preferring the more restrained integrated mature 2001 and half the fruitier and more acidic 2002.

Both wines had a lot of loose sediment needing careful pouring or decanting. I was impressed with the corks used, top quality 2-inch long polished corks.

It is a real shame that Mellasat have decided not to pursue varietal bottling of their Pinotage. Mature quality Pinotage is not easily found, but stocks of these wines held in the UK are currently on offer; see the website http://www.mellasat.com/

Truter's Finest Pinotage is a steal

"Four wines that I consider steals are ....... the rich, perfumed, blackberry and liquorice-like 2005 Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage, Stellenbosch (£7.99)

These wines are nothing like as famous as Dom Pérignon, Ernie Els or Biondi-Santi. Nor would they claim to be as ambitious. But in their own understated way, they represent something that is far more to my taste: good, honest winemaking at a fair price."

Tim Atkin in The Observer Magazine 22/07/07 - full article here

(Tim's other three wine steals are Sainsbury's Manzanilla Pale Dry Sherry, 2003 Umberto Fiore Barbaresco & 2006 Anakena Single Vineyard Viognier, Rapel Valley. )

Pinotage's 5 Million Rand Sponsorship

Absa bank yesterday (21/07/07) signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth one million rand per year with the Pinotage Association.

Dr Steve Booysen, Absa’s Group Chief Executive, said “I am extremely proud of what Absa has achieved in helping the Pinotage Association to development the Pinotage brand. With this agreement, we’ve committed to apply the bank’s considerable resources to firmly establish Pinotage in the local and international market. It is particularly important to us that all South Africans are made aware of the fact that this is our very own unique cultivar.”

This deal renews Absa’s decade long relationship with the Pinotage Association, which includes sponsorship of the annual Pinotage Top 10 competition. Pinotage Association Chairman Beyers Truter said “If it had not been for Absa, we would still have been in the experimental phases with Pinotage.”

Absa Bank and the Pinotage Association intend an ambitious promotional and media drive to capitalise on the success of the past and to take the brand to the next level. Several programmes will be rolled out, working toward positioning Pinotage for 2010. These will include a project with Absa Art later this year and a Food and Wine programme in 2008.


Picture: Dr Steve Booysen (left) and Beyers Truter celebrating with a glass of sparkling pink Pinotage.

Tanzer's 90 Pointer Pinotage

Southern Right Pinotage 2005

American critic Stephen Tanzer, writing in Issue 131 of International Wine Cellar, (March/April 2007) said

"Bright, saturated ruby-red. Aromas of crushed blackberry, mulberry and minerals, with a medicinal suggestion of band-aid. Then dense and vibrant, with excellent intensity to the slightly high-toned crushed berry and spice flavors. Plenty of incipient complexity here, but this dry, fruit-driven pinotage needs a couple years in the bottle. Finishes very long and spicy, with a sexy note of woodsmoke. 90 points" ($18 at Vinfolio.com)

Did he say band-aid? Sounds like brett to me, but I suppose as long as it has a sexy finish........

Binyamina's Maiden Pinotage

Teva is a range of wines from the Binyamina Wines which, as you probably have already guessed from the lettering on the label, is in Israel.

Binyamini is one of Israel's larger wineries and it is located in the town of the same name in the foothills of the Carmel Mountains.


The winery dates from 1952 and after being bought by a group of investors in 1992 has benefited from an influx of new ideas, modern technology,replanting of vineyards and introduction of new varieties such as Viognier, Zinfandel, Tempranillo and Pinotage.


This 2006 vintage is their very first varietal Pinotage, made from a vineyard planted in 2002. So it is a young wine in both senses; the grapes were harvested in August 06 and the wine had minimal French oak ageing, spending three months in second fill barrels used previously for Chardonnay.

On opening this wine, I was struck by its colour; bright purple with a bluish edge. It did look very young and my first impression was of red cherries in its colour and smell. On the palate there were ripe red cherry flavours, backed with some crisp fruit acids. This is an uncomplicated pleasant wine, in the easy drinking style of Beaujolais, without any detectable wooding. I will be interested to seeing what Binyamina will do in future with Pinotage as their vines get older, because this is a confident start with a variety many consider difficult . Retail price in Israel is NIS 38 (US$9.00 - £4.50)

Israel now has two wineries producing Pinotage, Binyamina and Barkan.

My good friend Daniel Rogov is the guru on Israeli wine, and his annual guide to its wine industry with detailed tasting notes of every Israeli wine is a must.






My thanks to Ilan Hasson of Binyamina Wines for sending me this sample, and to Rogov for background information.

Pinotage Top 10 goes international

The annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition has been opened to all comers.

This prestigious competition enters its second decade by inviting entries from wines made outside South Africa to join in. The competition, run by the South African producers Pinotage Association and sponsored by ABSA Bank, is unusual in that it selects 10 winners, enabling different styles of Pinotage wine to be equally recognised

The first competition in 1997 had just 49 entries while last year attracted 130. ABSA is part of the Barclays group who have taken winning wines and their winemakers to London, Hong Kong and Singapore to showcase their wines to Barclays international clients, giving the wines even wider exposure.

Closing date for entries to the 2007 competition is 30 August, and rules and entry forms can be downloaded from www.pinotage.co.za/html/entry_2007.html

The judges for the competition will be Duimpie Bayly, Charles Hopkins, Chris Roux, Dave Hughes, Neil Pendock, Michelle Cherutti-Kowal (wine lecturer in England) and Julian Brind (Master of Wine from England). They will taste all the wines, then retaste the 20 highest scoring wines to find the final Top 10.

Adventure of buying Pinotage

"If you're a wine aficionado", writes Madeline Triffon in Detroit News (12 July 2007) , "smacking your lips at the thought of a unique 'something' that resists easy definition, how can you avoid the adventure of buying Pinotage? Spend a little money. Cellar some bottles for a time. Look to be entertained and surprised."

The "don't miss" wine that has inspired her enthusiasm is Fort Ross Pinotage 2003, from California. "An elegant American Pinotage with delicious red berry fruit, oak spice and length.

"You'll be hard-pressed to find commercial plantings of Pinotage outside of South Africa. Here's one that's a superlative ambassador for South Africa's signature red grape... grown in Sonoma! Both red and black fruits abound, dark cherry, red plum, strawberry. There's well-integrated vanillin oak. The wine's flavor is vaguely Rhine-esque, with spice, warmth and well-mannered dryness. It doesn't need food to sing, but will be flexible with a range of dishes. Balanced, medium-bodied and smooth, it speaks 'quality.'"

The full article is here.

Auckland Pinotage's Amazing Longevity

New Zealander Paul Sharp came across this bottle of Coopers Creek * 1982 Pinot Noir - Pinotage.

"Hopes were certainly not high amongst those present," he writes, "yet I was very confident mainly due to the Pinotage component. The much-maligned variety seems to have amazing longevity particularly in wines from around the Auckland area within New Zealand.

While not an outstanding wine, it held together convincingly throughout 20 minutes in the glass and never threatened to disintegrate. Flavours and aromas were olive and herbal notes but beyond that it was really quite nondescript. However the palate was smooth and full and rather pleasant.

All in all quite a surprise from a 25 year old bottle that would not be considered an aging wine."

I have little experience of NZ Pinotage and none at all of old ones, and I am intrigued to learn that Auckland's Pinotages have a reputation for longevity.

Paul Sharp is founder-director of Global Wine Consultants Ltd, based in Auckland, New Zealand.

The above review and photograph come from Paul's blog at www.wineconsultant.co.nz and are reproduced here with his kind permission.

*Coopers Creek have achieved fame recently as the producer of the very popular Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc -- one of the labels featured in my book.

'La Cave' 2003 Wamakersvallei Pinotage

“Uh huh,” I thought. “Cold coming”. A tickle in the throat and a blocked nose presages a cold which is a real inhibitor on enjoying wine. So I decided to open a ‘special’ wine, one that I had been saving so that I’d have good memories to carry me over the cold.

‘La Cave’ 2003 Pinotage from Wamakersvallei is one of my favourite Pinotages, and since Wamakersvallei’s wines are unfortunately not available in the UK, this was a rare bottle I’d carried back from the Cape.

I remember how well it accompanied pan fried cob fish in Stellenbosch’s Fish Market restaurant in 2004 (yes, really) and how I returned to it after being offered a wide choice of the very top winning wines at a celebratory meal after that years Veritas wine judging. (I was lucky enough to be a judge at that competition and also the Pinotage Top 10 at which La Cave 2003 was a winner.)

And it tasted just as good again. This is a delightful serious wine with restrained fruit and great structure, very integrated, no rough edges. You know what it reminds me of? Vergelegen’s estate red. Platter is a bit sniffy about the 2003 vintage La Cave, but ignore them. This is a great wine.


If you’ve got a bottle, please do let me know what you think.

Say Hello to SAAM

In May I posted “I have never heard of SAAM Mountain, they are not listed in Platter 2007 and a Google gets not a single hit” after SAAM Mountain Heldersig Pinotage Viognier 2006 won a Silver Medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards

Well, I now know about SAAM and have tasted their cracking good Pinotage Viognier.

Kobus de Kock, one of the winemakers at Pederberg Winery emailed - “No wonder you have never heard about SAAM . SAAM is a brand-new jointly owned label. The parties are Bibendum (one the UK's biggest wine companies) on the marketing and distribution side, and Perdeberg Winery on the production side.

SAAM being the Afrikaans word for together and describing the whole concept of the brand where everybody, from the primary producer right through to final distribution, is working together in an effort to service the consumer in the best possible way. This service obviously includes the wine to be enjoyable to as many as possible.”

Saam Mountain Vineyards is a collective of forty South African growers with low producing vineyards (less than 7 tonnes per hectare) located from Paarl to the Durbanville Hills.

Saam Mountain’s home is a 1688 farmhouse (the oldest registered building in South Africa) at Eensaamheid Farm at the foot of Perdeberg Mountain, in Paarl.

The winemaker is Pieter Carstens, from Pederberg Winery, who has been tasked with making ‘wines with unusual degree of complexity and intensity at affordable prices’. The basic wines will be priced around £5.99 in the UK with a premium single block selection – where each wine has the Afrikaans name of the vineyard block from which the grapes were sourced - priced from £7.99 -£10.50.

Courtesy of Bibendum, I got my hands on a bottle of their just launched SAAM Pinotage Viognier 2006. It comes in on a heavy bottle with a classy looking label whose illustration appears to be a mountain range formed of embossed very pale grey zebra stripes which gives a pleasant tactile feel.

The words Heldersig appear on the front and back label where the text says “Our Heldersig (Clear View) Pinotage Viognier) is produced from small batches of specially selected grapes”, but there is no mention that this is a single vineyard wine, which seems to be a missed marketing opportunity.

The wine is dark in the glass, with a minty nose and a purple rim you'd expect from such a young wine. The first impression is of ripe juicy plummy fruit. Red berry flavours are to the fore, and underneath there are subtle hints of chocolate and tobacco. There’s an attractive silky texture to this wine, it is 13.%abv but it feels quite powerful and it will be interesting to see how the wine develops in the bottle. Excellent.

Pieter Carstens co-fermented Pinotage with a little (3%) aromatic white Viognier, a practise common in the Rhone where Syrah is co-fermented with Viognier and, instead of diluting the red Syrah, a chemical reaction with Viognier during fermentation extracts more colour and flavour and adds complexity. This is only the second co-fermented Pinotage I know of, and the results are so promising I expect more to follow.

Saam Mountain Heldersig Pinotage/Viognier 2006 retails at £8.95. There are two more Pinotages, Saam Mountain Paarl Pinotage 2006 (£5.95 closed with a screwcap hooray! (- my wine had a composite closure)) and Saam Mountain Leeuwenkuil Pinotage 2006 (£8.95). All the Pinotages are Paarl Wine of Origin. There are another eight wines in the SAAM range.

Saam Mountain Vineyards website is at http://www.saam-mountain.com/.

Pinotage top at Pinot Noir Festival

Alder Yarrow of Vinography tasted and rated 193 wines at San Francisico's annual Pinot Days festival of Pinot Noir, held 29 June - 1 July 2007 .

He says "I braved the crowds for nearly five hours to taste through almost two hundred current release Pinot Noirs for our mutual education and enjoyment.

The Pinot Days festival is turning into one of San Francisco's signature wine events, and one of the best ways to experience the breadth of depth and quality in California's Pinot Noir, plus some nice wines from further afield."

Alone among the all those hundreds of Pinot Noirs from California and Burgundy was one Pinotage -- Fort Ross 2003.

And guess which wine appeared in his group of eight highest scoring wines?

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5
1998 Calera Wine Company "Selleck" Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan. $60
1998 Calera Wine Company "Reed" Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan . $50
2005 Chasseur Wines "Freestone Station" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast . $60
2005 Chasseur Wines "Sylvia’s" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $60
2003 Fort Ross Vineyard Pinotage, Sonoma Coast. $49
2005 Joseph Swan Vineyards "Trenton Estate" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $45
2005 Peay Vineyards "Scallop Shelf Estate" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $50
2005 ROAR "Garys’ Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $50


Is that amazing, or what?

Pinotage really delivers!

"Anyone who is unconvinced as to the merits of Pinotage should get stuck into this. Rich, characterful fruit with a fine tannic structure, this well-priced Pinotage really delivers. Spicy, fruity, and very moreish, it makes you wonder why you ever doubted he variety in the first place. Absolutely no bubblegum notes - guaranteed."

2005 Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage - as reviewed in Harpers, the UK trade weekly on 22/6)

See also here