August 2002 Buying Guide: Pinotage

Pinotage is a teenager in the wine world - moody, confused, and hoping to get lucky. Wanting to be taken seriously, South Africa's 'indigenous' variety is still groping for its identity. Leonie Joubert reports on WINE magazine's TOPS at SPAR Pinotage Champion of the Year award, this time focussing on the 2000 vintage and sporting a new sponsor.

 

Back in 1925, the soon-to-be-illustrious Professor Abraham Perold at Stellenbosch University took it upon himself to cross the Pinot Noir and Cinsaut varieties. There's no clear record as to why he did this, yet the Cape wine industry today finds itself historically bound to the contentious outcome - Pinotage.

It was commercially bottled for the first time in 1959 for release two years later, and, 40 years on, the Pinotage brat pack is still figuring out what to do with the grape. The wine can be sweetish and prone to artificial banana or nail polish/ acetone aromas; can reek of salami when infected with bacteria; or turn jammy when picked overripe. And, inexplicably, it occasionally produces bitter tannins.

As the old rhyme proclaims: 'When it's good it's very, very good; but when it's bad it's horrid'. In fact, Pinotage shows itself to be much like its temperamental parent, Pinot Noir - producing a seriously good wine from it is a big challenge.

This couldn't be more evident than in this year's WINE magazine TOPS at SPAR Pinotage Champion of the Year tas-ting. It took two days to work through 76 wines from the 2000 vintage. After a final taste-off between the top eight wines (4 and 41/2 Star stunners assessed overleaf), the panel of five judges naturally found themselves choosing between two very serious contenders: Rijk's and Môreson. (The tasting was blind, so panellists didn't know the identity of the duo with which they were grappling.)

The debate bounced back and forth between which wine should win and what message would consequently be sent to the consumer and the industry. "For various reasons they are equal," held Cape Wine Master and panellist Sue van Wyk.

Ultimately, the Môreson was regarded as more heavily oaked and the Rijk's more accessible.

None of the panel would have objected strongly to either wine winning.

"It's almost too tight to call… which will do the best for Pinotage?" considered panel chairman and Cape Wine Master Tony Mossop. "One (Rijk's) is going to be more appealing to the public but the Pinotage Producers Association would probably appreciate the other (Môreson) coming out on top."

Finally it was decided - after much consideration and debate - that a maiden Pinotage from the Tulbagh valley should be crowned the champion 2002. Congrats to Neville Dorrington and his team at Rijk's, and to winemaker Charl du Plessis, now heading up the cellar at Spice Route in Malmesbury.

THE FACE OF OUR AMBASSADOR Against the backdrop of France's domination of the appellation system, other wine-producing countries (particularly in the New World) are rushing to stake their claim to individual varieties (or a mix thereof) and use them as flagships on the hotly contested international stage. Australia has claimed Shiraz and the Shiraz/Cabernet blend; New Zealand has Sauvignon Blanc; Chile has Malbec, the US has Zinfandel, Italy has Sangiovese. And South Africa punts Pinotage.

UK wine writer Anthony Rose said of the grape at the inaugural Fairbairn Capital SA Trophy Wine Show: "Pinotage can be made well. It can produce some luscious, lovely reds, more in the Burgundy style than some other South African wines…"

But fellow judge Tony Jordan (CEO of Domaine Chandon, Australia) cautioned that Pinotage might never be huge. "Play with it because it's South African, but don't focus on this alone… just do the best you can. Don't neglect Merlot, Cab, Chardonnay…"

Right now it's as though South Africa is trying to win the world's favour with a gawky adolescent when it's arguable that our ambassador should rather be an experienced elder statesman.

Dick Davidson, Cape Wine Master and one of the tasters voting for the WINE magazine TOPS at SPAR Pinotage Champion of the Year, furthered this argument: "We don't even have enough of a definition of what Pinotage is yet."

But perhaps South Africa is one step closer than this time last year. The 2001 competition saw the 1999 Cloof Pinotage's "fruity accessibility, balanced wood and compact palate" push it ahead of the very serious, heavily wooded "Bordeaux- or Cabernet-styled" Kanonkop 1999 and the Avontuur 1999. This year, WINE's judges may have narrowed it down further . . .
SETTING THE STANDARDS Year by year, Cape winemakers are getting better at what they do. They're picking riper, learning to be shrewd with wood treatment and they're gleaning lessons from abroad.

"Five years ago, 20% of the wood (in most Pinotages) would have been chips and staves," observed Paul Benadé, Cape Wine Master and owner of Lievland, "but the use of oak is much better now."

The WINE panel found there was less bitterness and greenness showing in the wines from 2000 and that high alcohol didn't appear much, which was a pleasant surprise all round. There was much less banana and 'tutti-frutti' (sweet strawberry cordial and raspberry) character, too. "There's a lot of 'tutti-frutti' wine out there… but it's not here today," one taster threw into the fray.

There were hardly any corked wines either, although this was attributed to luck rather than better corks.

The consensus was that WINE's tasting gave a pretty good indication of the 2000 vintage. And for Charles Hopkins, Graham Beck (Coastal) cellarmaster and judge on the day, 2000 was the best red wine vintage in his 16 years of winemaking.

One unwelcome customer was the salami/gamey character associated with bacterial spoilage.

"Be careful not to blame this on Brettanomyces," warned Hopkins, "when it could in fact be any number of variations of bacteria." (Brettanomyces is a bacteria sometimes responsible for hamster cage or meaty stink in wine.) These characters in old-style South African reds were often not regarded as a fault. "But people are starting to wake up to this as a negative," said Mossop.

The gangly South African grape phenomenon gets a merit award for showing well, within the context of its character and youth. There are some serious, full-bodied wines. Standards have definitely improved and maybe we're closer to seeing Pinotage realise its true potential.

STRING OF ACCOLADES Eagle-eyed critics will be quick to note the accomplishment of Rijk's Pinotage 2000 in the Fairbairn Capital SA Trophy Wine Show where it received a bronze medal - that after winning grand gold at the Michelangelo and double gold at the Veritas competitions.

But as Michael Fridjhon, the Trophy Wine Show chairman, said: "The aim of the Show is to be the definitive wine competition in South Africa, where a bronze medal really means something."

UK wine writer and SA Trophy judge Oz Clarke said: "The whole point of this show is to give medals to wines that matter." Bronze at the show equates to 3 Stars in WINE: good to very good!

Quite simply, at WINE's latest tasting, the Rijk's showed better.

KANONKOP CONUNDRUM After the Kanonkop Pinotage 1999 came so close to scooping the prize from last year's winner, the Cloof 1999, expectations were high for the 2000 vintage to do likewise. The 1 Star performance in this tasting is regarded by the cellar as being more reflective of its youth than its quality. The back label of all Kanonkop wines state the wine is expected to dip between the ages of two and three years due to bottle shock and begin to improve thereafter, with optimum drinking starting at five years and peaking at anything from 10 to 15 years.

Today's consumers tend to buy for drinking tonight - a trend which will always do a disservice to this style of wine. You be the judge.
Tasting notes

4½ stars

RIJK'S PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R84.00 SO Plum heart; garnet rim. Rich, velvety, and appea-ling: vanilla, with lovely mulberries-and-cream adding dimension; also cedar wood, tobacco, black berries and ripe banana. Sweet, dense and full-bodied with great extraction and a whack of tannins. A good 3 to 5 years of life in the bottle.

MÔRESON PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R65.00 Black; cassis edge. Full, rich scents of ripe cherry, mulberry and plum with fragrant vanilla, spice, plum aromas. Sweet entry onto a dense, meaty palate with ripe fruit and good extract in harmony with the oak. Great future - hold for 3 to 5 years if you can.

4 stars

RHEBOKSKLOOF PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R34.00 Black plum; garnet edge. Hints of coffee and mocha with sweet, bright Pinotage fruit, cassis and vanilla which carry through to the palate. Beguiling tastes: ripe fruit oozes from the wine. Enjoy now or within 4 years.

DELHEIM PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R45.50 Pitch black; thin crimson edge. Typical mulberry, banana aromas with clean fruit and oak. Big black fruit on the palate with loads of oak and firm grape tannins. 1 to 4 years of life in the bottle.

EAGLEVLEI PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R50.00 Deep plum; garnet rim. Bright ripe mulberry and cherry aromas. Hints of mocha on dense fruit and good oak. Dry finish with lingering salami flavour. Drink within 2 years.

FAIRVIEW PRIMO PINOTAGE 2000 CELLAR PRICE: R70.50 SO Plum; garnet edge. Ribena-and-cream nose - a real fruit pastille style. Showing vanilla and salami character with balanced fruit and toasty flavours. A very "together" wine. Drink now or within 3 years.

SPICE ROUTE FLAGSHIP PINOTAGE 2000 FAIRVIEW CELLAR PRICE: R150.00 Glossy, rich colour - ruby-plum; brick-red rim. Warm spicy nose with plums and prunes; charred oak. Dense chocolate and mocha flavours - rich, deep and penetrating. Good tannic backbone - hold for 2 to 5 years.

UITERWYK TOP OF THE HILL PINOTAGE 2000 PRICE: PENDING NOVEMBER RELEASE Black heart; cerise rim. Sweet vanilla and mulberry aromas on a chunky, ripe wine. Supple, dense, sweet fruit. Drink now or in 2 to 4 years.

3½ stars

Villiera Pinotage 2000 SO R29.95 Broken Stone Pinotage 2000 (Slaley) R35.00 Simonsig Pinotage 2000 R38.50 Altydgedacht Pinotage 2000 R45.00 Newton Johnson Pinotage 2000 (Cape Bay) R64.00 L’Avenir Pinotage 2000 R68.00 Clos Malverne Reserve Pinotage 2000 R69.00 SylvanVale Vine Dried Pinotage 2000 R90.00

3 stars

Boland Pinotage 2000 R23.80 Du Preez Pinotage 2000 R28.50 KWV Pinotage 2000 R36.00 Stony Brook Pinotage 2000 SO R44.00 Jonkheer Pinotage 2000 ARP R50.00 Warwick Old Bush Vines Pinotage 2000 R50.00 Laibach Pinotage 2000 R57.00 Flagstone Writer’s Block Pinotage 2000 ARP R57.10 Morgenhof Pinotage 2000 R65.00 Anthill Pinotage 2000 ARP R66.60 G Beck The Old Road Pinotage 2000 (Coastal) R70.00 Spice Route Pinotage 2000 R70.00 Tukulu Pinotage 2000 ARP R71.10 Hidden Valley Pinotage 2000 R74.00 Redhill Pinotage 2000 (Simonsig) R75.00 Sylvanvale Reserve Pinotage 2000 R79.95 Avontuur Pinotage 2000 R80.00 Cloof Pinotage 2000 (Groene Cloof) R85.50 Steytler Pinotage 2000 (Kaapzicht) R100.00

2½ stars

Beyerskloof Pinotage 2000 SO R25.00 Nederburg Pinotage 2000 R37.20 Hoopenburg Pinotage 2000 R41.00 Cederberg Pinotage 2000 R42.50 Pinehurst Pinotage 2000 (Môreson) R45.00 Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Pinotage 2000 ARP R47.80 Woolworths Pinotage Reserve 2000 (Bellevue) ARP R59.99 Fairview Amos Pinotage 2000 R65.00

2 stars

Vlottenburg Pinotage 2000 R26.50 Spier Pinotage 2000 R28.73 Perdeberg Pinotage Reserve 2000 ARP R30.00 Kleine Zalze Pinotage 2000 R35.00 Diemersdal Pinotage 2000 R36.00 Mooiplaas Pinotage 2000 R42.00 Bellevue Pinotage 2000 R42.50 Bay View Pinotage 2000 (Longridge) ARP R43.00 Deetlefs Pinotage 2000 R43.00 Nitida Pinotage 2000 R44.00 Graham Beck Pinotage 2000 (Coastal Cellar) R45.00 Zevenwacht Pinotage 2000 SO R46.00 De Hoopen Special Reserve Pinotage 2000 R47.50 Asara Pinotage 2000 R55.00 Kaapzicht Pinotage 2000 R60.00 Beaumont Pinotage 2000 R64.00

1 star

Landskroon Pinotage 2000 R25.00 Bergsig Pinotage 2000 SO R27.00 Cardouw Pinotage 2000 (Goue Vallei) R34.50 Goede Hoop Pinotage 2000 R35.11 Goede Hoop Private Collection Pinotage 2000 R41.50 Dieu Donné Pinotage 2000 R43.80 Kleine Zalze Barrel Matured Pinotage 2000 R49.00 Clos Malverne Pinotage 2000 R49.90 Groot Constantia Pinotage 2000 R53.00 Middelvlei Pinotage 2000 R53.50 Southern Right Pinotage 2000 R55.00 L’ Auberge du Paysan Pinotage 2000 R70.00 Wildekrans Pinotage 2000 R75.00 Signal Hill Malwenn Pinotage 2000 ARP R79.00 Kanonkop Pinotage 2000 R85.00 Also tasted: Porterville Pinotage Reserve 2000 R24.00 Knorhoek Pinotage 2000 R40.00

WINE TASTERS: Cape Wine Masters Tony Mossop (Panel Chairman), Sue van Wyk, Dick Davidson and Paul Benadé, owner of Lievland; Charles Hopkins, winemaker for Graham Beck Coastal.

PROCEDURES: Tasting done "blind". Wines poured at 18°C. The 20-point scoring system was used: 5 Star = 18 or more out of 20; 4 Star = 16 or 17; 3 Star = 15; 2 Star = 14; 1 Star = 13; No Star = less than 13. Star ratings awarded on the basis of discussion and consensus. Wine identities not revealed to panellists until publication of the assessments.

ARP Approximate retail price SO Sold out ex-cellar