Name Changes

Don't ask for Pinotage - or other wines - from Bellevue, Erica, Uiterwyk or Vlottenburg. All have changed the name on their labels.

Bellevue found it impossible to use that name in Europe, so are branding their wines 'Morkel' after the owning family. Erica Vineyards also had problems with registration and chose the name 'Raka' after owner Piet Dreyer's fishing boat.

Vlottenburg have discarded their distinctive name and chosen the anodyne and immediately forgettable 'Stellenbosch Hills' instead. Apparently they thought 'Vlottenburg' was too difficult for English speakers. I had no problem pronouncing 'Vlottenburg', unlike 'Uiterwyk'. To help people like me, and to avoid confusion with Uitwyk, Uiterwyk wines have been branded with the family name 'De Waal'.

Bath University Pinotage Tasting

Professor Keiran Molloy at the University of Bath organised a Pinotage tasting for the University Staff Wine Society. He writes " Thank you for your help on the tasting, which was extremely successful and well received. You have converted a lot of people to Pinotage, and personally I will be stocking up on the Stellenzicht, L'Avenir and Kanonkop (which was far more approachable even at this stage than I had expected)".

His notes with "an unscientific marking of each wine out of 10, which reflects relative rather than absolute merit" follow.

Southern Right 2002 - The lightest of all the wines tasted. Bright red colour, mix of red and black fruit flavours, full flavour in mouth, short on finish. An uncomplicated wine that won't disappoint but is unmemorable. No noticeable tannins so a wine for drinking now rather than keeping. (5.5/10)

Flagstone Writers Block 2002 - Mid-red colour, light tannins, sweetish red fruit flavours with a smokey finish. More body and slightly longer in the finish than Southern Right. A popular wine for immediate drinking. (7/10).

Groot Constantia Estate 2001 - Similar in colour to the Southern Right. Darker fruit flavours becoming more apparent than the earlier two wines. Full flavour in mouth but again short on finish. Earthy flavours, with smoke/tar finish. A more lively wine than the opening pair with more of a zing. By the end of the tasting, after being open for about 3h, this wine developed pronounced southern Rhône flavours becoming reminiscent of a Gigondas and far more complex in nature (6/10, based on early evening opinion)

Bellevue Estate 2000 - Deep red colour with well integrated tannins. This is a far more complex wine and would work better at this stage in its life with food. There is a hint of eucalyptus on the nose and nice mixed red/black fruit flavours. Other tasting notes suggested this was a controversial "new age" wine but that was not the opinion of the group. Good value for money as the cheapest wine in the tasting. (7/10)

Stellenzicht Golden Triangle 2000 - Deep red colour with purple hue. Obvious and yet soft tannins which are well balanced with the fruit, this is a wine which is drinking well now (perhaps better with food) but a long and exceptional future ahead of it. A long, full mouthful of plums and black fruit flavours. (7.5/10)

Neethlingshof Estate Lord Neethling 1998 - The most controversial of the wines presented. Dry tannins with less weight of fruit than the Stellenzicht. Mid-weight fruit overall, plum, blackcurrant and mulberry flavours with a slightly smokey edge. The fruit/tannin balance is not as good as Stellenzicht, and the wine has a sharp, spicey, slightly burning finish with met with divergent reaction. (7.5/10 but some much higher, some much lower )

L'Avenir Estate 2002 - The most popular of the wines tasted, drinking perfectly now but with enough soft tannins to ensure a long life. This is a very smooth wine with a hint of creamy vanilla on the nose. The flavours are of sweetish red and black fruits and there is a very long finish from this wine. Excellent. (8.5/10)

Kanonkop Estate 2001 - This wine could be described as a younger version of the L'Avenir in that it has similar characteristics but is less well evolved at this stage in its life. There is again the soft creamy flavours of oak/vanilla with loads of dark fruit flavours, but which are more hidden at this stage than for the l'Avenir. This wine became better and better with increased aeration. A wine that can be drunk with pleasure now but will be a real star in 5+ years time. (8/10)"

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African Queen Promotes Pinotage

Melissa Dicent has been travelling the USA in "The African Queen" tour bus promoting South Africa wines for importer Hemingway and Hale.

She says "The most exciting thing is people's interest in Pinotage and is by far my favorite part of the presentation. Not only do we have the excellent Indalo Pinotage which is doing very well, but we also have the Serengeti (migration) Pinotage - wine maker- Jan du Preez- has been very well received in the market place - a favorite - and was actually made wine of the week by Jane Garvey in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and I have no doubt that she will write up on the Indalo Pinotage in the near future. We also have the Goiya - shiraz/pinotage blend which has proved to be a real hit!!

Anyway I will continue to do my utmost to promote Pinotage!!"

A Pocket full of Pinotage

by
Graham Howe

Take three adjoining vineyards with award-winning Pinotage - and one winemaker with a hand in the making of all three wines. What have you got? A pocketful of Pinotage that is the origin of a spectrum of styles from single vineyards planted 300 hundred metres apart. The man with the winery in the middle is Pinotage guru Pierre Wahl, winemaker at Rijk's Cellar and consultant at both neighbouring Tecoma and Manley Private Cellars.

Is Tulbagh the new terroir for Pinotage? Two of the wines from adjacent vineyards made the top twenty finalists in the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition 2004 - Rijk's Private Cellar Pinotage 2001 (a top ten winner for the third time) and Tecoma Unfiltered Pinotage 2002. Pierre Wahl gave us a lesson in Pinotage at the awards luncheon at the Mount Nelson, describing the different slope orientation of the vineyards and the different styles of wine produced by distinctions in micro-climate and cellar treatment.

Winner of double gold at Veritas 2001 and a trophy winner at the International Wine Challenge 2002, Rijk's Pinotage 2001 bears more medals than an American general. Made from low yields (1,4 tons per ha) from a single vineyard, the succulent, spicy Pinotage with hallmark plum and banana flavours was thoroughly pampered - night-harvested, handpicked and romanced in new French and American oak for 18 months. The result is a blockbuster - from a cellar which put Tulbagh reds on the map with Rijk's Pinotage 2000, winning Wine's Champion Pinotage 2002 and a Absa Top 10 place.

Pinotage is big business in these hills. On a walk through the vineyards, Pierre Wahl pointed out the highly-prized patch of Pinotage in a picturesque landscape of mountain peaks and rolling vineyards. Rijk's cellar also makes and sells Tecoma's Pinotage (winner of Veritas 2004 gold) from the fruit farm next-door - an elegant wine with a rich complex nose, intense purple colour and spicy berry, plum and coffee flavours with ripe tannins.

On the other side of Rijk's, we strolled through the tiny patch of vineyards of Manley Private Cellar located at Hunter's Retreat guest-house. David Jordan has won acclaim for its maiden wines, with a big individualistic Pinotage 2002 matured in all new oak in the micro-cellar with ripe berry flavours. Jordan says, "I tore out a pear orchard to plant wines. Winemaking is my passion now. We've disproved the notion that you can't grow reds in Tulbagh. I'm just a mechanic really - I do the simple things like designing a tumble drier as a destemmer to gently handle the berries!"

While Stellenbosch continued to dominate the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition 2004, taking the lion's share of the awards, Raka winery made history by winning a place with the first certified wine of origin from the new Kleinrivier ward near Stanford, Hermanus. Made by woman winemaker Teresa Fourie, the Raka Pinotage 2003 was made from a single vineyard and matured in a combination of first, second and third fill French oak. Other areas performing consistently on the show include Wellington and Franschhoek.

(Courtesy of http://www.wine.co.za/)

Simonsig Redhill 2002

The first red wine made by Simonsig was a 1970 Pinotage. They now craft two styes, unwooded and a oak aged Pinotage called Redhill; they're particularly proud of the just released 2002 Redhill Pinotage.

The name Redhill comes from a vineyard block named ‘Rooibult’. Simonsig viticulturist Francois Malan says “the terroir of this specific vineyard block with its deep red soil composition of decomposed shale and granite definitely improved our odds to reap the full potential of this wine”

The 2002 vintage endured an exceptionally wet winter followed by excessive rainfall during spring leading to 25% of the crop lost to downy mildew. However cool temperatures helped develop optimum flavour and acidity in the grapes.

“Fortunately February and March were warm and dry, which accelerated the ripening period, resulting in a beautifully, albeit small, balanced Pinotage crop with remarkable colour and concentration,” said Johan Malan, Simonsig’s winemaker, who describes the 2002 Redhill Pinotage as “an intense style wine with awesome depth and length of concentrated Pinotage sweetness, lusciously melded with toasty new oak and grained tannins that satisfies with a long ripe fruit finish.”

Tasting Wheel

In the July 2003 we reported that Dr Johann Marais, Specialist Scientist at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij had been asked by the Pinotage Association to develop a Pinotage aroma wheel.

The project is now complete. The wheel lists 14 primary and 44 secondary characteristics. The wheel can be ordered from the Pinotage association at info@pinotage.co.za , or downloaded from http://www.wynboer.co.za/recentarticles/0409wheel.php3


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More NZ Pinotage

New Zealand's northernmost winery has just released its first wines, which include a Pinotage.

Karikari Estate vineyard and winery located on the Karikari Peninsula, with an neighbouring 18-hole golf course is owned by American tycoon Paul Kelly.

The first vines were planted in 1998 and by the end of next year they will have 101 acres under vines. The first wines, from the 2003 vintage, were released in September 2004. Karikari's winemaker is Ben Dugdale assisted by consultant Kim Crawford.

Recent Dinner Wines

Beyerskloof 'Reserve Selection' 2003, WO Stellenbosch, 15% abv -- A not yet
released 'barrel selection' for the UK Sainsbury chain from 20-40 year old
un-irrigated bush vines. Another serious offering from Mr Truter, attractive nose leads into a brooding giant of a wine, there's tobacco leaf and tangy spices on top over unplumbed depths just waiting for time to release them. Beyers told me he made it to be at its best in 10 years but I wonder how many Sainsbury's customers will keep it that long. A 2004 Top 10 finalist.

Deetlefs 2001, Rawsonville 13.5% abv -- Deep garnet, berry nose, intense blueberry and plum flavours backed by medium tannins and a medium long finish. Enjoyable drinkable meal friendly wine.

Delheim Estate 2001, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5%abv -- Closed and shy when first opened, but after 30 minutes it opens out to show sophisticated plummy flavours and soft well integrated tannins - a European style dinner wine rather than an in-your-face fruit bomb, and all the better for it!

Swartland Winery Indalo 2002, WO Swartland -- Slow to show soft spicy nose, plums, mulberries, Pinotage sweetness with refreshing acidity, spicy mid palate, later developing flavours of mocha, chocolate and tobacco leaf. A delicious wine from Pinotage master Andries Blake.

Olsen Wineries 2003, WO Paarl, 14.5% abv -- Pleasant medium light bodied wine, a little green on front palate on first opening, but after a while opened it develops soft blueberry fruits at the forefront and ripe fruits in the middle and a shortish finish. Needs decanting.

London Pinotage Tasting

The Pinotage Club tasted the 2003 Pinotage Top 10 on 9 November 2004. We were glad to welcome as co-host David Brice from Cape Town's Wine Cellar who came laden with wines he'd hand carried from South Africa. The event was fully booked with a waiting list.

As a bonus we started with a tank sample of a new wine from Fairview, a Pinotage fermented with about 4.5% of Viognier. Small amounts of white Viognier have traditionally been fermented with red grapes in the Rhone but science has only recently discovered what French vignerons instinctively knew; a reaction occurs that results in better flavour and colour extraction.

Fairview Pinotage/Viognier 2003 - A very approachable wine with a delightful
palate packed with sweet fruits, redcurrants, rounded and a good finish. This was a tank sample, the wine has not yet been released, but look out for it.

We tasted the 2003 Top 10 in alphabetical order and marked out of 7, my marks are given followed by the group average.

Allee Bleue 2002 - Opaque dense colour, fruity nose, full body, some high acids, good tannins & grip (4 - 4.5)

Bellevue Estate 2002 - Dark fruits, firm tannins and crisp acids, hint of banana (5 - 4.2)

DeWaal 2002 - Sweet berry nose, beautiful purple glass staining colour, dry and tastes duty in the middle palate. (4 - 4.3)

Graham Beck Old Road 2002 - Quite dry on front palate but opens out to reveal nice plummy fuits (4 - 4.3)

Wamakersvallei La Cave 2002 - Oh dear, oh dear. I had so much hopes for this wine which is not available in the UK and which I often enjoyed while in the Cape. But it was stinky corked. (no marks - corked)

L'Avenir Estate 2002 - Delicious ripe fruits, good depth, underpinned with soft tannins (6 - 5.2)

Rijks Private Cellar 2002 - Wonderful sweet fruits on front palate, a bit closed in the middle. (5 - 4.9)

Slaley Hunting Family 2002 - Bright clear, lovely fruits of the forest flavours and spices, long finish (5 - 4.3)

Rooiberg Reserve 2001 - Tangy crisp fruits, interesting, dollops of fruits, spicy. (6 - 4.5)

Stellenzicht Golden Triangle 2001 - Big fruity nose with spices & acids, bit dusty in middle. (5 - 5)

It's difficult to host a discussion while writing notes, hence the bevity of the notes.

Oak & Mulberries

Michael Olivier, author of Nosh! newsletter enjoyed Wildekrans Pinotage 2002, "all gentle, soft and velvety with ripe red fruits underpinned by fine oak." and Onderkloof Pinotage 2002 "which reminds me of warm dusty mulberries picked off a tree when I was a boy, more juice down my shirt than inside! Wonderful fruit and gentle brushing of oak."

To subscribe to nosh! send a blank email with the words subscribe nosh! in the subject line to noshnews@iafrica.com

What a Mistake to Make!

Nitida won a Double Gold award at Veritas for their 2003 Pinotage. I visited Nitida winery (the name comes from a local protea flower) on low rolling hills outside Durbanville.

"We are amazed and delighted," winemaker Jacus Marais told me. "We didn't expect it as we don't make Pinotage in a big wooded style, and never felt Pinotage is one of our strengths. We had a hectare of Pinotage but have just replaced half of them with Cabernet Sauvignon. Our Pinotage style is medium bodied with a minerally edge and we didn't bother entering the Top 10 Competition because we didn't think we had a chance."

The Nitida 2003 Pinotage was aged for 10-11 months in 2nd/3rd/4th fill French oak barrels from five different coopers, and costs 50R from the winery.

Judging at Veritas and Absa Top 10

I was honoured to be invited to judge at Veritas and the Pinotage ABSA Top 10 competition. Veritas judging covered four days. On the first day I was on a panel judging Cape Blends, then Pinotage until Wednesday. The last day I judged Ruby Cabernet and 'other' red varieties, including Zinfandel, Touriga Nacional, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot, Mouvedre etc.

Judges sit in booths with a tasting sheet that names only the cultivar and vintage. Wines in groups of ten poured into ISO glasses which are brought on a tray. After tasting, the judges move to a table in another room, disclose their scores and discuss the wines. In rare cases of wide variation in scores, wines are called back for a retaste. Candidates for Gold & Double Gold are also re-tasted.

Pinotage Top 10 judging took place on the Friday of Veritas week, and followed the same process, except this time we looked for the best 20 wines out of those submitted. We then retasted all 20 finalists to make our final selection of the Top 10.

I was very aware that in my glass was the result of the efforts of a lot of people over a year, and I had to be fair to them, but also fair to consumers who use competitions for their purchasing decisions.

So why wasn't there a exact match between Veritas and Top 10? There are several reasons: not all wines were entered for both competitions, judging panels were different and the wines came from different bottles. Anyone who opens multiple bottles of the same wine at the same time will have experienced bottle variation.

At no time did judges know the identity of the wines they tasted, and we had no advance notice of winners.

Pinotage Top 10 - 2004

Winners of the ABSA/Pinotage Association 'Top 10' competition were announced in Cape Town on Thursday 14 October. They are

• Bay View Pinotage 2003 (Longridge/Winecorp - Stellenbosch)
• La Cave Pinotage 2003 (Wamakersvallei Wine Cellar - Wellington)
• Laibach Pinotage 2003 (Laibach Vineyards - Stellenbosch)
• L'Avenir Pinotage 2003 (L'Avenir Estate - Stellenbosch)
• Môreson Pinotage 2003 (Môreson - Franschhoek)
• Raka Pinotage 2003 (Raka - Stanford)
• Rijk's Private Cellar Pinotage 2001 (Rijk's Private Cellar - Tulbagh)
• Sentinel Pinotage 2003 (Coppoolse Finlayson-Sentinel Winery - Stellenbosch)
• Spice Route Pinotage 2003 (Spice Route Wine Company - Swartland)
• Spier Private Collection 2002 (Spier/Winecorp - Stellenbosch)

The runners up were Altydgedacht 2001, Beaumont 2002, Beyerskloof Reserve Collection 2003, Beyerskloof Select Winemakers 2003, Diemersfontein 2003, Hill & Dale 2003, Jacobsdal 2001, Morgenhof Estate 2001, Stellenzicht Golden Triangle 2002, and Tecoma 2002.

Winemaker Francois Naudé of L'Avenir Estate holds the record with wins in seven of the eight competitions.

While it was good to see wineries showing consistency by repeating previous successes (La Cave, Rijk's, Laibach, and Môreson) it is also exciting to see new names among the winners and new areas. Raka is a new vineyard in a ward, Kleinrivier, that was only registered in August.

Dr Steve Booysen, group chief executive of Absa said "Similar to Absa, the new achievements of the Pinotage society stand on the shoulders of the previous year's successes. There seems to be a trend that on the international scene Pinotage is slowly but surely becoming the preferred South African red wine. Absa is very proud to be a sponsor of this competition and to be part of the Pinotage Association's objective to always improve continuous quality and volume. We agree with the author Elbert Hubbard who said art is the beautiful way of doing things, science is the effective way of doing things and business is the economic way of doing, and when you combine it - as is the case with fine Pinotage wines - the final product is higher in every facet. To me it is the essence of what is achieved every year."

Pinotage Association Chairman, Beyers Truter, said "There has been a tremendous growth in quality Pinotage over the past decade. I'm not saying all future Pinotages will be fault-free, but this won't be because of the cultivar but the winemaker. To make Pinotage is not easy. You have to control acid, PH and tannins and it's easy to get bacterial spoilage. But those that can make Pinotage can make any wine. We know the cultivar and we are making classic wines that can compete with the best in the world."

Beyerskloof was a runner-up with two reserves. The Beyerskloof Select Winemakers 2003 is a special bottling for South Africa's 'Wine of the Month Club' and the Beyerskloof Reserve Collection 2003 is specially blended for the UK supermarket Sainsbury. Owner/winemaker Beyers Truter told me he wasn't surprised at the success of the special blends as they "are blended to be more immediately attractive, and they have an open inviting nose." He makes his regular Reserve for ageing, with more wood and sees them reaching a peak in ten years.

He remained cheerful when his wines didn't reach the final ten, congratulating the winners and saying how pleased he was to see a new generation of young winemakers making such of a success of the cultivar he has championed over the years

The judges for the 2004 competition were Duimpie Bayly (convener), Peter May (wine writer from England and honourary member of the Pinotage Association), Neil Pendock (wine writer), Charl Theron (wine consultant and previously head of production at KWV), Mike Louw (wine consultant), Jenny Ratcliff (Cape Wine Master) and Dave Hughes (international wine judge from South Africa).

Veritas Awards 2004

On Friday 8 October in Paarl the results of the 14th annual Veritas competition were announced. Veritas is South Africa's biggest competition for market ready wines and the wine industry’s most authoritative quality guideline.

This year's entries were evaluated over a period of four days by 13 panels of seven judges each. Local experts were joined by five international adjudicators – UK Master of Wine Lynne Sherriff, Peter May (United Kingdom), Ton Kolsteeg (The Netherlands), Janake Johansson (Sweden) and Dave Hughes (South Africa).

I was on the Pinotage panel chaired by Francois Naude (winemaker) with Gert Boerssen (manager/winemaker), Henry Kotze (winemaker), Heidi Kritzinger(winery marketing manager), Chris Roux (winemaker) and Fred Viljoen (owner/winemaker). We tasted 153 Pinotages, almost all of which were good drinking, but we were very selective and awarded only three Double Golds and five Golds, as follows.

• DG Boland Pinotage 2002
• DG Nitida Pinotage 2003
• DG Wamakersvallei La Cave Pinotage 2003
• G Hill & Dale Pinotage 2003
• G L'Avenir Pinotage 2003
• G Raka Pinotage 2003
• G Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage 2002
• G Tecoma Pinotage Unfiltered 2002

There were 41 silver and 71 Bronze awards. The full list of all Veritas awards can be seen at www.veritas.co.za

Koelenhof Pinotage Rosé 2004 won a Gold in the Rosé category

Note that the DG winning Boland wine is a special 'winemakers selection' available only at the winery at 60R, not the ordinary Boland Pinotage at 27R.

Pinotage is a HUSP for South Africa

Pinotage is not just a USP for South Africa, stated Beyers Truter: it's a HUSP - a Huge Unique Selling Point. Truter, owner/winemaker at Beyerskloof Winery & Chair of the Pinotage Association, was speaking to UK based clients of ABSA Bank, sponsors of the annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition at a Pinotage tasting and luncheon in London on 5 October 2004.

He said that because "Pinotage wine was first made just 80 years ago, it is still in baby shoes", compared with varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. However, "through extensive research by the Pinotage Association, we know more about growing and making Pinotage than is known about any other variety anywhere".

Truter said winemakers must ask themselves "do I want to be an imitator or an innovator?" He declared "Pinotage makers are the innovators of South Africa and we're aiming to make the best Pinotage in the world."

The event was held in the wine cellar of South African owned Vivat Bacchus restaurant, a partner of Johannesburg's Browns restaurant. It started with a walk around tasting of ten top Pinotages, selected to represent the best wines of recent years. They were poured by five leading winemakers, Dirkie Morkel (Bellevue Estate), Francois Naude (L'Avenir Estate), Danie Steytler (Kaapzicht Estate), Bennie Wannenburg (Wamakersvallei Winery) and Beyers Truter.

A luncheon menu especially prepared to match the wines, with Pinotage a component of several dishes, included starter 'Freezer Cured Pinotage Foie Gras' and main course 'Pinotage Braised Daube of Beef'. Dessert wasaccompanied by the unique sweet Pineau de Laborie, a part fermented Pinotage wine fortified with Pinotage brandy.

Dirkie Morkel reflected that although few of the guests were previously familiar with Pinotage, there was great enthusiasm for the wines, and the level of general wine knowledge was high. "I was put on the spot several times by detailed questions", he said. Beyers Truter concluded the event had been a resounding success, and suggested it could become an annual event.

The wines were:

• Allee Bleue 2002
• Bellevue 2002
• Beyerskloof Reserve 2001
• Graham Beck Old Road 2002
• Kaapzicht Steytler 2001
• L'Avenir 2000
• Rijk's Private Cellar 2002
• Tukulu 2001
• Uiterwyk De Waal 2002
• Wamakersvallei La Cave 2002
  and
• Pineau de Laborie 2001

Pinotage Wins Kumala Growers Challenge 2004

Klawer Winery Pinotage 2004 won the Kumala Growers' Challenge Trophy, announced on 29 September. Kumala is South Africa's biggest export brand selling some 2.5 million cases annually in the United Kingdom and other international markets. The judges were Dave Hughes (wine judge/writer) Tony Mossop (Winemaker/writer) and Joanne Simon (UK wine writer)

The judging panel found the Klawer Pinotage to be "an excellent example of a well made New World wine packed with ripe plums and cherries and laced with hints of coconut. The vanilla and soft cedar oak tones are well integrated. The palate is well rounded, weighted yet soft and graceful with good structure and length."

Joanne Simon said the Klawer Pinotage "stood out head and shoulders above the rest".

The wine is intended for the Kumala range

2004 Pinotage Vintage

The annual Pinotage new vintage tasting sampled 13 wines from tanks and barrels selected from various regions. Although 2004 was one of the most difficult harvests ever for the wine industry, the flexibility and continuous quality of Pinotage clearly showed to the eighty wine experts, wine makers and wine writers who gathered at Doornbosch in Stellenbosch in June.

“Compared to last year’s excellent harvest overall, it took much more effort in 2004 to source the prime vineyards, but the wines from all the regions still showed good structure and high quality,” says Charles Hopkins, board member of the Pinotage Association “After enjoying one of the best vintages in decades last year, the Cape winelands this year experienced one of the most difficult vintages ever. It is therefore very gratifying that in spite of the adverse climatic conditions and high volume harvest, which usually has a detrimental effect on quality, the 2004 Pinotage wines which were tasted showed a constant line of fine quality.”

The vice-chairman of the Pinotage Association and Cape Wine Master, Duimpie Bayly, emphasised the versatility of the Pinotage variety. “Pinotage is a very stable variety – this was a very challenging harvest, but it still delivered superb wines. With regard to the market, this South African variety’s versatility is a plus factor. A good example is Rosé wines, which are now becoming increasingly popular internationally and Pinotage is also ideal for this style of wine. People are looking for good quality wines that are very drinkable.

Prof. Joël van Wyk, a retired lecturer in Oenology and honorary member of the Pinotage Association, agreed that the versatility of Pinotage is not fully utilized. “You can make top quality Rosé wines with Pinotage grapes, while it also supplies an excellent base for Port. The different approaches in styles of Pinotage red wines which were experienced at the new vintage tasting, is also very gratifying. With Pinotage you can satisfy everybody’s taste preferences.

“Because Pinotage grapes ripen early, it usually is harvested before the heat wave that hits the Cape winelands in February. Pressing techniques also play a role. Pinotage grapes have beautiful fruit, colour and tannins and the long skin contact during fermentation is not always necessary. The result is more elegant wines with lower alcohol without sacrificing structure and fruit flavours,” says Prof. Van Wyk.

The 2004 vintage is one of the largest ever for Pinotage by volume. The common characteristics of the 2004 Pinotage wines tasted include excellent colour and typical banana and plum flavours. Experts agreed that although most of the wines were very accessible, all the wines boasted an aftertaste full of lingering flavours.

The wine cellars from the regions and wards whose wines were selected for the new vintage tasting by their representatives, were Aan-de-Doorns (Worcester), Citrusdal Kelder, Diemersfontein (Wellington), Domaine Brahms (Paarl), Lanzerac (Stellenbosch), Middelvlei (Devon Valley), Mooiplaas (Bottelary), Neethlingshof (Stellenbosch), Rico Suter Landgoed (Rawsonville), Seidelberg Landgoed (Paarl), Sumaridge Wyne (Walker Bay), Swartland Wynkelder (Malmesbury) en Viljoensdrift (Robertson).

Sentinal Wows Fairbairn

Sentinel Vineyards Pinotage 2003 was named Best Pinotage at South Africa's Fairbairn Capital Trophy Wine Show, and was also awarded the trophy for Discovery of the Show.

'Discovery of the Show' is an award based on the quality-price ratio of the wines entered, and Sentinel Pinotage was deemed to offer the best value of all.

French wine authority Michel Bettane was effusive in his praise: 'The Pinotage winner was superb, quite superb. It shows what refined Pinotage is capable of'. According to WINE magazine he likened it to Zinfandel, which went out of fashion, and is now making a comeback forcing those that scorned it to eat their words.

Recent Dinner Wines

Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2003
An inviting fresh raspberry nose, light bodied with high acid and a surprisingly puckering dry woody finish. I'd like more fruit in mid-palate. Essential with food because of the acids and tannins and rather old fashioned. Disappointing.

Sylvanvale Pinotage Reserve 1999
On my trips to the Cape I'd made several journeys up Devon Valley to call at the Devon Valley hotel, wander through the vineyards that surround it and try to
attract the bar staff to taste the wine made from them. But it took some years
before I managed to buy their Pinotage as it quickly sells out. Perhaps I was just
expecting too much, but I found this wine an average Pinotage, starting to fade
with not enough fruit or 'oomph' to excite.

Beyerskloof Pinotage 2002
Not the reserve, but the regular bottling gives lots of pleasure with a full meaty body, dark plummy flavours and perfectly balanced fruit and tannins. But Beyers labels should stop saying Pinotage is unique to South Africa; its neither true nor a good selling point.

WINE Magazine's Pinotage Whines

WINE MAGAZINE - South Africa's equivalent to Decanter - has recently turned against Pinotage with a vengeance. Deputy editor Christian Eedes is a big fan of Shiraz but is unable to praise that variety without disparaging Pinotage at the same time. Some of his email newsletters have literally infuriated Pinotage makers and the print magazine seems to miss no opportunity to take a dig at the variety. It’s a rare issue that doesn't have an anti-Pinotage letter. One was from a man who had taken a mouthful of a Cape Blend from a friends glass; he didn't like it so felt compelled to write to WINE to complain about Pinotage. Another called for all Pinotage to be uprooted as it’s an 'embarrassment to our country". If you're surprised that no-one has written in response, well they have, but printing pro-Pinotage letters doesn't seem to match WINE’s current direction.

Since 1997 WINE has promoted a Pinotage Champion Award, in association with the SPAR grocery chain, but the competition was abruptly junked this year in favour of a similar Shiraz challenge. In its place was ‘Value for Money’ Pinotage, awarded to 2002 vintage Pinotage costing under 40 ZAR that scored highest in the magazine’s tasting over the previous year.

Editor Fiona McDonald says “There’s a level of excitement and enthusiasm about Shiraz and its potential that Pinotage cannot match”

Congratulations to the three winners of WINE’s new value for money award

• Du Toitskloof 2002 (28 ZAR)
• McGregor 2002 (24 ZAR)
• Lutzville ‘Most Westerly’ 2002 (18.40 ZAR)

Meanwhile in the rest of the world, Israel has produced it first Pinotage “not only a rousing success in its own right but perhaps the very best wine ever from Barkan” winery , and Muddy Water winery in New Zealand claims Pinotage “could be to New Zealand what Zinfandel is to California."

Christian Eedes, whose opinion is "Pinotage is so 1990s", said in February 2004 "Cape Blends in general, might be superficially entertaining but they ultimately lack the depth to count amongst the truly great wines of the world." In July 2004 the International Wine & Spirit Competition declared the worlds best blended red wine is a Cape Blend. That is the best of any red blend from the 30 countries who entered the competition.