'01 Nederburg Pinotage

Dan,

That's certainly not a-typical. You'll find many different styles of pinotage, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the cultivar's biggest 'problem', i.e. lack of a distinguishable identity. Red and black berry fruit is typical, often jucy and plummy, or stewed fruit sometimes. You'll often get whiffs of dried banana and boiled sweets on the nose, which some people seem to dislike. A slight chemical-ness on the aftertaste (in the lower quality offerings) is not too uncommon. Then on the other hand you get the more austere black-cherry, earthier styles, which the cognoscenti seem to favour.

Perhaps I can give some background. Pinotage, as you might well know, is a local cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (Hermitage). It is probably the most contentious wine grape in SA. Many people, including distinguished wine makers (André van Rensburg - Vergelegen), believes there are no future for Pinotage and that it is not possible to make premium quality wine from it. Then, many other distinguished wine makers (Beyers Truter - Kanonkop, Beyerskloof) are trying very hard to turn Pinotage into SA's icon variety, such as what Zinfandel is to California, or Shiraz to Australia. We actually have a Pinotage association in SA

Personally I think the polemic is a good excuse to drink Pinotage and find out for oneself! I've had Pinotages which I liked very much, especially as a blending partner. Some producers to look out for could include:

Kanonkop & Beyerskloof (i.e. anything from Beyers Truter) L’Avenir Kaapzicht Steytler Spice Route Laibach Raka

There are actually too many mention, see the Pinotage association's website for recent (yearly) trophy winners.

Cheers, Lourens

I find that red meat is also an excellent excuse to drink Pinotage.

pavane

Indeed! Especially african game (impala, kudu) or with stews and potjiekos (a traditional South African stew). See

Cheers, Lourens

Lovely. My friendly neighbourhood supermarket in Frankfurt am Main, Germany has been running several Pinotages in its offer lately. Lemme try some and revert! ;-)

Cheers

Thanks for the information, Lourens. Maybe Pinotage is controversial because it has Pinot Noir in its lineage. From what I hear, it is not easy to make a good Pinot Noir. The same might be true for Pinotage.

I found out about this varietal by watching "Simply Wine" on the Fine Living cable TV network. It took some time to find it in the Pennsylvania State Store. But it was well worth the effort.

Thanks, Dan-O

"Dan the Man" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

Easy or not, I've found that Pinotage in s.A. makes for a robust, spicy and interesting wine - imho, far from resembling a wimpish Pinot Noir (now excluding the very best Burgundies, of course :-) . Anders