Congratulations to the South African grape pinotage, which turns 100 this year. Pinotage was created in 1924 by Professor Perold who crossed two grapes, cinsault (in South Africa at the time called hermitage) and pinot noir, hence the name pinotage.
However, it took until 1961 before a pinotage was launched on the market. The first wine was made in 1959 at the Lanzerac estate in Stellenbosch.
During these 100 years, how has the grape developed?
For a long time, many producers thought it was a difficult grape. And not all consumers embraced it either. But as Danie Steytler Jr at Kaapzicht says, it takes a few decades before you understand how a completely new grape variety should be handled. Today we find excellent pinotage wines in different styles: a full-bodied, concentrated style and a lighter style with less oak, a little more towards elegance.
Pinotage is the dominant grape in a Cape Blend, a category that was established as a sort of counterbalance to Bordeaux blends.
In a separate post you’ll get some recommendations on good pinotage wines. Although it is the grape that is perhaps most associated with South Africa, pinotage is not the country’s most planted grape.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to South Africa with BKWine.
See: See pictures and videos from South Africa 2024 in the wine tours Facebook group.
