Buying guide: Pinotage
The first 5 Star Pinotage in WINE’s five-year history, Hidden Valley ’97 out-performed a host of other top-scoring wines. WENDY TOERIEN reports on the panel tasting to choose a champion from the 1997 vintage. It wasn’t even considered a great year for Pinotage! While 1997 has been touted as one of the decade’s best, particularly for red wine, hindsight is showing that, for Pinotage, 1995 was IT, followed by ’98 and, in these early stages, the ’99 vintage just past. Yet this year’s WINE panel voted a 1997 Hidden Valley Pinotage worthy of 5 stars – a clear winner in a line-up including eight other very fine wines rated 4 stars or better.
Made by red wine specialist Jeremy Walker of Grangehurst for his friend Dave Hidden, who owns a prime little Pinotage vineyard in the Devon Valley area, the Hidden Valley shows what South Africa’s much-promoted home-grown grape can do. Variously described by tasters as “rich”, “bold”, “plush” and “elegant”, the wine has all the requisites to qualify as a truly fine claret-style red, from texture to complexity to balance. Yet what pleased most were those distinctively Pinotage characteristics showing through: the dense, inky colour; the sweet red berry fruit, with just a hint of that typical banana ester; and the rare combination of accessibility and long-life that serious Pinotage has always promised.
Equally pleasing was a touch of smoky gaminess apparent in the wine. For the tasting elicited some very frank discussion on the style of Pinotage gaining credence – whether through encouragement from the Pinotage Producers’ Association, or by wine writers and panel tasters helping to promote the PPA’s efforts to push the envelope on quality and style. “Just a hint” in the Hidden Valley of that desired characteristic that veers between gamey, savoury, smoked meat and bacon had WINE panellists nodding approvingly.
While Pinotage fundi and Cape Wine Master Sue van Wyk rates wines of this style highly – in keeping with PPA guidelines – she found a lot of look-alikes, and a lot of let-downs on the nose.
Michael Fridjhon was critical of artificial flavours, attributing certain of the savoury, salami characters to the presence of unacceptably high quantities of H2S (hydrogen sulphide), a volatile compound which occurs naturally in winemaking and can be detected by an organic, vegetal “stink”. “Some regard it as the smell of complexity but it is actually a fault; the sign of a dirty wine.”
Kanonkop was one of the controversial wines in this respect. Garnering scores that ranged from 12 to 17 out of 20, the 1997 was found to have lots of fruit, but verging on the excessively “gamey” ascribed to H2S. Similarly with the Remhoogte, which Tony Mossop argued had a typically Burgundian “pong”, while others agreed with Fridjhon that it was a negative. In the case of the Villiera, however, Fridjhon stood alone in condemning it, with his fellow panel members combining to give it 4 stars. It’s clearly, a matter of taste.
The good wines were very, very good – mostly blockbusters packed with colour and flavour and plenty of maturation potential. Some of the problems at the other end of the scale: young vineyards producing light-weight fruit; winemakers trying too hard to produce a blockbuster by overwooding wines that didn’t have enough fruit or were from grapes picked too young; green tannins – what Fridjhon refers to as “South Africa’s tannin crisis”.
Not that Pinotage is an easy variety. As Sue van Wyk explained, it’s difficult to get physiological ripeness, especially in a hot climate, because as the sugar climbs, the acid drops out. Which is where winemakers get stuck with wines that are either jammy (sugars too high) or low in acid (requiring an adjustment in the cellar).
There were notably fewer wines with the overtly acetone character prevalent in the past and less emphasis on American oak sweetness. Fridjhon commented on the lack of “cask” character, but justified oak “chips” as being more suitable than barrel when vinifying fruit from young vines.
In short, a good showing by many of our best red wine producers, and some young blood to pique your fancy.
Tasting notes
4 stars
HIDDEN VALLEY ’97 Grangehurst cellar price: R58 Pitch black. The ultimate Pinotage nose full of violets, banana, intense red berry fruit and smoky gaminess. Rich, bold, plush yet elegant! Textured and complex, with lovely balance of ripe fruit and tannin, and an aftertaste that lingers. Eminently drinkable now, but will mature beautifully for up to 10 years.
4½ stars
KAAPZICHT RESERVE ’97 Cellar price: R29,56 (sold out) Inky. Fragrant, vinous nose combining soft cassis, banana and liquorice aromas. Ripe fruit and firm wood make for a thick, chewy, highly extracted mouthful. A big wine, a bit closed right now. Best after 2 to 8 years.
4 stars
SAVANHA RESERVE ’97 Berg & Brook cellar price: R45 Deep garnet. Dense aromas of plummy, blackberry fruit and vanilla oak. Ripe fruit flavours on palate, with dry tannins. Lovely fruit and oak balance. Concentrated, fairly full-bodied, with long finish. Best in 2 to 6 years.
L’AVENIR ’97 Cellar price: R45 Deep, plummy colour. Lovely red berry and oak aromas, with some gamey, savoury Burgundian overtones. Good fruit concentration, long mid-palate, ripe tannins, underlying complexity. Oak perhaps a little dominant right now. Best in 2 to 8 years.
LAIBACH ’97 Cellar price: R39 (sold out) Deep ruby. Pungent aromas of coffee and fynbos (buchu), some banana. Elegant, tightly-knit wine – fruit should come to the fore in time – with sweetness suggesting American wood. Some organic, mushroomy, earthy characters. Good now to 4 years.
SOUTHERN RIGHT ’97 Hamilton Russell: R40 (sold out) Deep plum. Ripe fruit and sweet oak aromas, with sour cherry and smoked, savoury character. Slight mintiness. Developed palate with lots of juicy fruit and firm, ripe tannins. Big, but supple mouthful. Good now to 5 years.
ZEVENWACHT ’97 Cellar price: R17,30 (sold out) Inky. Bright, ripe cherry and strawberry fruit, hint of banana and some smoked meat aromas. Ripe and textured, well-structured and complex. Good now to 6 years.
UITERWYK TOP OF THE HILL ’97 Cellar price: R47,50 Inky. Huge fruit and oak concentration on nose and palate. Wood tannins make a strong showing, but plenty of fruit underneath. Rich, broad flavours, but finely tuned. At best after 2 to 6 years.
VILLIERA ’97 Cellar price: R30 (sold out) Deep plum. A Pinotage with a particularly distinctive bacon, smoked meat, savoury character. Full, rich palate; creamy texture; sweet, ripe finish. Good now to 8 years.
3½ stars
MORGENHOF ’97 Cellar price: R37,50 Blackish. Full nose with blackcurrant fruit and hint of mint and spice. Strong wood makes it slightly austere and harsh, but has enough fruit to carry it through. Needs time to integrate. Leave for 2 to 6 years.
SIMONSIG ’97 Cellar price: R24 (sold out) Plummy. A serious unwooded Pinotage. Ripe and juicy aromas and flavours, with hints of banana. Well-balanced and integrated tannin and slightly jammy pastille fruit. Supple wine. Drink now to 4 years.
SAXENBURG PRIVATE COLLECTION ’97 Cellar price: R32 Deep plum. Some disagreement here. Shy nose, with whiffs of tobacco and spice. Three tasters found it quite complex and supple, with a clean, flavourful palate and harmonious in character. Two thought it simple, with a hint of bitterness. Drink now to 5 years.
UITERWYK ’97 Cellar price: R39 Dense. Ripe, red berry fruit and spicy aromas. Big, with complexity and texture. Plenty of fruit but strong tannins and a herby, fennel character. Hint of greenness, bitterness. Needs time. Best after 2 to 5 years; may last 10.
GRANGEHURST ’97 Cellar price: R52 Deep plummy colour. A medium-weight with organic whiffs on a good fruit base. Firm oaking well-integrated with sweet fruit. Hint of greenness and a slightly metallic character. Drink now to 5 years.
CLOS MALVERNE RES ’97 Cellar price: R49,80 Plummy black. Open nose, with cassis fruit, spice and gamey whiffs – one taster found it too “stinky”. Ripe, sweet flavours. Well-rounded, good fruit, firm structure, little complexity. Good now to 4 years.
The 1997 Pinotages Tasted
5 stars
Hidden Valley R58,00
4½ stars
Kaapzicht Reserve** R29,56
4 stars
Zevenwacht** R17,30 Villiera** R30,00 Laibach** R39,00 Southern Right** R40,00 Savanha Reserve R45,00 L’Avenir R45,00 Uiterwyk Top of the Hill R47,50
4 stars
Zevenwacht** R17,30 Villiera** R30,00 Laibach** R39,00 Southern Right** R40,00 Savanha Reserve R45,00 L’Avenir R45,00 Uiterwyk Top of the Hill R47,50
3½ stars
Simonsig** R24,00 Saxenburg P Collection R32,00 Morgenhof R37,50 Uiterwyk R39,00 Clos Malverne Res R49,80 Grangehurst R52,00
3 stars
Boland R18,21 Neil Joubertº R22,50 Paradyskloof R23,50 Vlottenburg Limited R24,00 Wildekrans** R35,00 Delheim** R35,00 Remhoogte R35,00 Môreson Soleil du Matin** R39,50 Bellingham “Spitz” R60,00
2½ stars
Darling Cellars DC R23,00 Diemersdal** R26,00 Fairview** R29,50 Avontuur R34,00 Warwick R35,00 Kanonkop R49,00
2 stars
Perdeberg** R10,00 Wamakersvallei R13,50 Swartland Reserve** R14,00 Eersterivier R15,95 Romansrivier R16,00 Landskroon R17,50 Welmoed R18,50 Beyerskloof** R18,50 Boplaas R19,00 Bovlei R19,80 Mount Disa† R20,00 Cederberg** R28,50 Beaumont** R30,00 Fleur du Cap* R31,30 Vriesenhofºº R35,00 Laborie R34,40
1 star
Helderberg R15,95 Kleinbosch** R20,00 Backsberg R21,60 Nederburg R30,63
ALSO TASTED: Altydgedacht
** Sold out from the producer, but may still be available in select wine shops. º Made on Klein Simonsvlei wine farm. ºº Only available in October. † Made by Coppoolse & Finlayson mainly for export.
WINE tasters: Cape Wine Masters Allan Mullins (panel chairman), Tony Mossop and Sue van Wyk; wine writer and importer Michael Fridjhon; Picardi wine buyer Colin Frith.
Procedures: Tasting done "blind". Wines poured at 18°C. A 20-point scoring system was used: five star = 18 or more out of 20; four star = 16 or 17; three star = 15; two star = 14; one star = 13; no star = less than 13. Star-ratings awarded on the basis of discussion and consensus. (Wine identities only revealed to panellists after publication of tasting report).
