South Africa’s flagship red grape Pinotage is an interesting one. It’s actually a crossing of two French grapes, Pinot Noir and Cinsault, the latter of which used to be known as Hermitage in South Africa. This is where the name came from - Pinot-age! Geddit? Pinotage is famously rich, meaty and smoky like a good South African braai. In the past, it was a grape that made wines that could be a little rough around the edges but these days, you can find some very beautiful, silky ones with plenty of plush plum fruit flavours. Here are three wines showing Pinotage three ways to celebrate both Pinotage day this Saturday, October 8th and the recent South African heritage day.
Van Hunks Sparkling South African Rosé
Van Hunks is a sparkling wine that is hand crafted in South Africa using the traditional method, just like in Champagne. All the wines are bottle fermented in small batches and matured in contact with the lees for approximately 30 months, which gives them a creamy texture and weight. This rosé is made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a splash of Pinotage to add flavour, colour and richness.
Find it at Amazon for £20.25
Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage Rosé
Kanonkop spend a lot of time working with the Pinotage grape and this wine comes from the Perdeberg, which is the largest single block of Pinotage in the world. It’s quite unusual to make rosé from this robust, full-flavoured grape, but Kanonkop have pressed on and created somethign delicious. Aromatic and vibrant, it has notes of rose, summer berries and refreshing red apple.
Find it at Majestic for £9.99 mix six price
Tesco Finest* Stellenbosch Pinotage
Here we have a fantastic, accessible, modern version of a red Pinotage without the burnt rubber, bonfire stink. It’s light on its feet, velvety and fruity with lots of juicy, bramble fruit. Incredibly drinkable, this is a brilliant mid week red for your spag bol or lasagne. Hailing from South Africa’s most famous wine region, Stellenbosh and created for Tesco by renowned producer Stellenrust.
Find it at Tesco for £7.50
Want to know what else we’ve been tasting on talkTV? See here!