My Wine of The Month of June is Niel Joubert Pinotage Patrysbult 2022. It's a light bodied interpretation of the grape, translucent in the glass. Very drinkable, but I had it in a restaurant on one of the hottest days so far this year and it was too warm so I added a few ice cubes.
I understand the label is used on exports to add a little more provenance and background story.
I enjoyed it with a meal, but it would be very suitable for drinking on its own.
My Wine of The Month for May is Stellenrust Corner Stone Pinotage 2023, WO Stellenbosch.
It is fermented in open concrete tanks with manual punch down of the cap every two hours for another 4-5 days. The wine is then drained from the skins and further fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. After fermentation has been completed, it is matured in 100% French oak over a period of 12-14 months.
There's sweet berry fruits and about an hour after opening the wine really opened up and became smoothly supple. This wine no doubt has a long life, but why wait when it's lovely and so enjoyable now.
I visited the winery for a tasting in November last year and brought Corner Stone home with me.
“This is more than symbolic,” said Madame May, a Bordeaux-born grande dame of wine whose South African wine journey started at the age of 78. “Pinotage and I were both born in 1925 — it’s a beautiful story that our lives have crossed like this. I’ve always admired Pinotage for its complexity and character, and I’m deeply honoured to be part of this moment.”
Prof. Izak Perold created Pinotage in 1925. The 24-carat pure gold medallion, weighing one troy ounce (31.1 grams), was designed and sculpted by Natanya van Niekerk, award-winning numismatist and director of the private Cape Mint. It forms part of an edition limited to 300 gold medallions.
The medallion features Prof. Perold in relief and bears the parent grape varieties’ names, Pinot Noir & Hermitage (Cinsaut) on either side with Pinotage in the middle, Perold’s signature, and a laurel wreath of grapes, a symbol of South Africa’s rich wine heritage.
The tiny angel flying over a wine glass was inspired by a family story shared by Perold’s granddaughter about him calling exceptional wine “engeltjiepiepie”. Each medallion will be hand-finished with a touch of red enamel, symbolising wines “touched by an angel”.
Madame May struck this launch edition medallion using a hand press capable of applying 1.5 tons of pressure.
“I have always cherished medallions and am a collector myself,” she said, “but this is the first time I’ve seen how one is made — and to do it myself for a cause so close to my heart is unforgettable,” she said, while praising the exquisite design on the Pinotage medallion.
Beyers Truter, chairman of the Pinotage Association noted: “Pinotage should be registered as a South African asset — just like gold. This medallion not only marks the past but will also carry Pinotage’s story into the future. Both the wine and this medallion will increase in worth and meaning as time goes on.”
It was pale and would have benefitted from keeping a while longer because it seemed its acidity overwhelmed its fruits.
But it was much better with food where its mouth drying tannins made one want another glass. There were some floral notes, maybe violets, but one felt the declared14.5% abv.
If I had more, I'd keep them for a few more years to soften tannins and let the fruits out.
My Wine of The Month for March is Alvi's Drift '221' Pinotage 2022, WO Scherpenheuval.
It came about because I was wanting to buy a cook's apron. On Amazon the one I purchased had a series of pictures of the apron, and a video of it in action*.
*Link to video - https://amzn.eu/d/35QBtia
My Wine of The Month for February is Doran Vineyards Family Reserve Pinotage 2023, WO Voor-Paardeberg.
It was in September 2016 that I had my first and, though I didn't then know it, last Doran Vineyards wine when I met owner Edwin Doran at a wine show. (see here)
So I was pleased to see this wine in an independent wine shop, all being at more than three times the cost it is in South Africa.
In the intervening years the wine has acquired a smart modern front label and a well-designed informative rear label. But what about the contents?
This is so drinkable, light red berry fruits to the fore. It lightly wears its 16 months stay in older oak casks; it doesn't taste oaked. I remember wine industry guru Duimpie Bayley saying that oak aging should be like a dance floor, offering support without its presence being noticed.
The bottle had emptied before we noticed.
Beykush Winery in Ukraine has Pinotage. It's currently a component on its Artahia blend.
According to Wineland magazine, 2,470 vines were planted in 2012, sourced from Voor Goenberg Nurseries in Wellington, because Beykush were looking for early ripening varieties.
Beykush Winery is about 35 minutes drive south of Odesa on the Black Sea.
My Wine of The Month for January is a Cape Blend, Heron’s Nest Cabernet Sauvignon/Pinotage 2020, WO Western Cape.
The label is coy; it doesn’t name the producer or the component proportions. But the A Number belongs to S A Pritchard who is the owner of Clos Malverne in Devon Valley. Clos Malverne’s flagship wine is Auret which is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Pinotage blend, but as that is more expensive in the Cape than I paid for Heron’s Nest in the UK I don’t think they are the same wine, but it’s one made in a similar way from bought in grapes.
It’s a very enjoyable wine; the Cabernet calms down Pinotage’s exuberance and the Pinotage gives fruit and sweetness to the Cabernet. Thoughtful winemaking shows – there were no shortcuts as they used the basket presses beloved by Clos Malverne and aged in French Oak barrels. I’d buy more, unfortunately for me they quickly sold out.
2025 is the 100th anniversary of the planting of the first Pinotage.
In South Africa’s autumn, at the beginning of 1925, Professor Abraham Izak Perold picked grapes from a Cinsaut vine whose female flowers he’d fertilised with Pinot Noir pollen the previous spring.
He planted seeds from those grapes in the spring of 2025. While all the subsequent vines had the same parents they were not identical. Most were unsuitable for use as commercial grape vines, but one was, and it was named Pinotage after its parents, Hermitage being the South African name for Cinsaut at that time.
It took time for grape farmers to plant the new variety, but early growers started winning wine-show awards with their Pinotages.
However the public had to wait until 1961 for the first commercially available Pinotage, a 1959 vintage released by Stellenbosch Farmers Winery under their Lanzerac label.
My Wine of The Year 2024 has to be the one I’ve drunk most, which is Beyerskloof Pinotage 2021.
It’s bulk shipped and bottled in the UK and as it’s stocked in
Sainsbury’s supermarket and frequently discounted it’s easy and inexpensive to
buy. This year the 2021 vintage is still being sold in the UK, but in South
Africa in November we were drinking winery bottled 2022 vintage.
Beyersklooof
Pinotage is our go-to when we have a curry, and our eldest son is a huge fan.
Unfortunately we can no longer find the Reserve or Synergy Cape Blend, so white
label it is. The wine is an easy drinker and true to the variety, with good balance and
bags of fruity flavours.
In
total I’ve opened 77 varietal Pinotages this year and 11 Cape Blends.
My Wine of the Month
for November is Stettyn Pinotage 2023 (WO Stettyn). I was alerted to this wine
by Dan who’d had it with lunch at My Couzens Family Restaurant in Gordon’s Bay
during our all too short stay in the Cape in November.
I thought I knew all
the Wine of Origin appellations, but I’d never heard of Stettyn or the winery
of the same name. A few days later I saw Stettyn Pinotage on a shelf at Houw Hoek Farm Stall near Bot Rivier and had to buy. We
consumed it the following night with a steak at Spur, and jolly enjoyable it
was too.
There were plummy tones
together with some blackberry flavours bound together with soft tannins. A
quaffer that went perfectly with our steaks and the only disappointment was that I
didn’t buy more bottles. This was a very young wine and I wonder what it’d be
like with a bit more ageing.
We planned to visit the winery but ran out of time. It’s located on the R43 between Villiersdorp and Worcester. Next time.
My Wine of the Month for October is the KWV Mentors Pinotage 2020 (WO Stellenbosch) that I opened on Pinotage Day earlier this month.
It's a big brooding beast in a heavy statement bottle. The back label says 'Can be enjoyed now, but will benefit for aging for a further five years' which is fairly meaningless as it doesn't say when the five years starts from. Is it the vintage year, as it says further aging? Is from the bottling date although they don't say when that is? Is it when one buys it, or when one opens it? Who knows?
I opened it four and a half years since the grapes were picked and I should have kept it longer, as it was closed - keeping it's promised glories tightly packed. Oh yes, it was enjoyable but for the feeling it would blossom with more age and that I'd opened it too soon.
Every year on the second Saturday of October, we celebrate Pinotage Day – a tribute to its journey from ancient soils to our tables, evolving in the hands of skilled artisans. This remarkable variety represents the heart of South African winemaking, a blend of culture, care, and heritage.
I'm opening KWV The Mentors Pinotage 2020 today.
Wishing you the joy of a glass or more of Pinotage.
Cheers!!!
My Wine of The Month for September is Mhudi Pinotage 2020, WO Coastal Region
Time flies - it was in 2008 that I visited the Rangakas at Mhudi and almost as long as I've tasted their Pinotage.
Thanks to The Wine Society now I again can. The first thing that struck me, after the £17.50 price, was its heavy bottle with deep punt, and DIAM cork.
Dark colour, berry flavours with plums to the fore and a really silky mouthfeel. A delicious wine.
Read about my visit to Mhudi here
I didn't notice chocolate on the nose
Winners of the Pinotage Top 10, Cape Blend and Rose competitions 2024 are:
My Wine of The Month for July is Warwick ‘The First Lady’ Pinotage 2023, WO Western Cape.
‘The First Lady’ name is a tribute by the current owners to Norma Ratcliffe who, with her husband Stan, founded Warwick. Norma made the wines and was South Africa’s first female winemaker of modern times.
It has a raspberry nose, tastes include cherries and vanilla with smooth subdued tannins and a creamy finish. Light, Burgundy styled easy going and very drinkable. A lovely wine. 13.5% abv.
I think it’s maybe not 100% Pinotage, maybe a little Merlot, but Warwick’s website is not forthcoming.
My Wine of The Month for May is Stellenrust Pinotage 2021 and 2022.
We had the 2021 vintage at our favourite Asian restaurant, Chez Mumtaj. We've enjoyed it there several times in the past but in May this year it was sublime. Good fruit flavours with just a hint of coffee being ground. And of course, it went very well with our subtly spiced Lamb Rogan Josh.
Our local Tesco supermarket had it in their Finest range, but this was the 2022 vintage. It was delightful, but not quite to the level of the 2021. So I've bought more to open in one years time in the expectation that another year in the bottle will bring it to the heights of the 2021 this year.
My Wine of The Month for April is Cloof Inkspot 2019. The bottle is festooned with stickers but it seems they were awarded by only two organisations.
The bottle has no information on what grape varieties are in it, but the man in the shop I got it from told me that it was a Cape Blend. According to Cloof's website they are Pinotage, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Platter says there is a little Viognier as well.
The wine is quite firm with layers of fruit and a spine of tannins. It's well made but somehow just not very moreish and it's the first bottle in a long time that we don't finish.
My Wine of The Month for March is Bellevue '1953', vintage 2016.
Bellevue are a Pinotage pioneer, making the wine that was the first to be sold commercially under the Stellenbosch Family Winery brand 'Lanzerac'.
Now the old vineyard, with its twisted bush vines growing on sandy soil is having its grapes bottled separately under the year '1953' it was planted. It is one of the worlds oldest existing Pinotage vineyards.
Only 600 bottles of 2016 vintage were produced. After nine years the wine is stately and serious. Like a fine old claret with a rounder body. The sweetness and youthful fruit has left and this wine demands a good steak or roasted loin of beef. Delicious.
I last had this wine at Bellevue's restaurant in 2018 when it was young and I bought a bottle home with me which I've kept till now.
See here for my report on that lunch and here for the announcement of the bottling
My Wine of The Month for February is DeWaal 'Top of the Hill' Pinotage 2015. This is from the world's oldest Pinotage vineyard, literally at the crown of a hill.
The vines were planted in 1950, so they were 65 years old when this wine was made.
I've stored it since buying in 2018 and at nine years of age the wine has thrown off the fruits of youth and developed a fine Claret-like flavour. It was an excellent example of how good Pinotage develops as it ages.
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Learn more about my new book telling all about Pinotage and read sample pages at
A Year in Paarl
A I Perold's
A Treatise
on Viticulture
A I Perold (1880-1941) was South Africa's first Professor of Viticulture and Oenology. He dedicated himself to improving the quality of grapes for wine, brandy and the table. He studied wine and brandy production in Europe, imported more than 60 varieties to the Cape and bred new ones. Perold said this book “is intended to serve both the student and the practical grape-grower. There are in it technical passages that will appeal more to the student, e.g. the chapters dealing with the biology of the vine, its external and internal morphology, the theory of grafting. My remarks on the practice of viticulture, such as those dealing with the propagation, manuring and pruning of the vine, the production of table grapes for export, will, it is hoped, assist the practical grape-grower as well as the student.” This is a newly typeset reprint, not a photocopy. Text on the 712 pages have been aligned to match the original pagination so any external references to pages in the Treatise will be valid in this edition
Available in paperback and hardback editions. 712 pages
with
A I Perold
Dr Perolds report on his Paarl experiments 1915 - 1916 reprinted with glossary, introduction and brief biography. Fascinating historical document on viticulture for wine and table grapes, wine and brandy making.
