Cape Town - Not yet a century old, pinotage is the South African red wine grape varietal created in 1925 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first professor of viticulture at Stellenbosch University.
A combination of pinot noir and cinsaut – or Hermitage as it used to be known, hence the name – you either love or you don’t.
I must confess that I do not, but I was willing to attempt a conversion so off I went on the newly launched Pinotage Root tour in Stellenbosch. It’s a full day trip which takes you to four of the top pinotage producers in the region – Simonsig, Kanonkop, Beyerskloof and L’Avenir. By the end of it, I can’t say I’d become a huge fan, but it was interesting to discover the wide range of wines made from this one grape.
There are MCCs, rosés, and Cape blends which combine cabernet sauvignon and merlot in varying percentages with pinotage as the dominant wine. There are wines made from old vines – some up to about 60 years old – and those from new vines. There are vintages from 2013 to 2004 or older; pinotage ages well.
At each farm you get to taste five wines – many of them award-winning – showcasing this broad spectrum, guided by knowledgeable staff. The order in which you visit is up to you, depending on whether you want to add in lunch, picnic, or a cheese platter. For example, L’Avenir does a biltong pairing for R30 a person, a picnic basket including a bottle of wine for R300 for two, or a cheese platter for R120.
At Simonsig’s Cuvée restaurant you can have a two-course lunch with wine for R250 a person, and at Beyerskloof a two-course lunch is R180 a person. At this farm they put pinotage in everything, even salami which you can buy to take home for just R35. Personally I couldn’t taste the pinotage in it, but it went very well with the wine. The restaurant is being renovated and will reopen at beginning of next month. There is no food at Kanonkop.
Although I’m still unlikely to keep a large stock of pinotage at home, I did like the blends and the rosés, and particularly the chenin blanc pinotage from Beyerskloof. It’s all a matter of taste, and learning the differences was fun. Anyone who already loves the grape is going to love this tour.
Pinotage Root costs R620 a person (three or more pay R470 each) and includes transport and tastings. The lunches and light meals are extra. It departs from Stellenbosch Wine Routes in Church Street in Stellenbosch at 10am, and finishes at around 4.15pm.
l For more information, call 021 886 4310, or e-mail [email protected].
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