Pinotage
The
result of a cross between the Pinot Noir and
Cinsault varieties, 1Pinotage
was created in South Africa in 1925, by
Stellenbosch University Professor A.I.
Peroldt.
Pinot Noir
makes the classic highly-prized wines of
Burgundy, while Cinsault is a prolific cropper
that makes relatively undistinguished wines in
the south of France. Pinot Noir is very
difficult to grow successfully, whereas Cinsault
is sturdy and resistant to most vine
ailments. It was hoped, by
2crossing
these two, the new variety would gain the good
points of both parents: classic Pinot Noir taste
with a large crop from easy-growing vines.
However, as
all parents know, offspring do not always turn
out as expected. Initial tastings did not
sufficiently impress, so Pinotage was largely
ignored until 1961, when a 1959 vintage Pinotage
won the Grand Championship at the
Cape
Young Wine Show,
South Africa's long-running and uniquely-themed
wine competition.
There was a
subsequent rush towards planting Pinotage vines.
The vines proved easy to grow and high sugar
levels were easily achieved, it is a good
cropper and many farmers overproduced. The
resulting wines didn't show the early potential
and Pinotage tended to be used to bulk out
popular-priced blends. There was also a tendency
for the wine to show a sweet paint or
nail-varnish like bitterness. And as such it
suffered descriptions such as "rusty nails".
A few wineries
began to specialize in pinotage and showed that
a wine worthy of serious consideration could be
made. But plantings declined year by year.
Pinotage acreage sunk to around 2% of total area
by 1993, with prices and demand for Pinotage
grapes dropping, much was distilled for brandy.
Again, a wine
competition proved savior. In 1991, Kanonkop's
winemaker Beyers Truter entered his Pinotages at
England's International
Wine and Spirit
Competition.
These so impressed the judges that he was
presented with the "Winemaker of the Year" award
- becoming the first South African to win this
honor.
Pinotage
gained international attention, and wine
drinkers keen to enjoy a new taste clamored for
the unique wine, causing the price of Pinotage
grapes to shoot up 500% by 1995. Again
winemakers started taking the wine seriously and
many even invested in French oak casks to age
it. Wine Spectator Editor James Suckling was at
a 1995 Cape of Good Hope tasting of old Kanonkop
Pinotages when he declared, "What the hell's
going on around here? These are spectacular
SPECTACULAR! Why did you murder the
grape?"
The Pinotage
Producers Association was formed, research
funded, and an annual Pinotage Top 10
competition begun. Research found that
fermentation at too low a temperature was the
cause of the nail-varnish problem.
The ending of
apartheid not only removed trading sanctions,
thus opening up new markets, but also created a
great international interest in all things South
African. And what was more South African than
its own varietal? On the other hand, vineyards
could finally import vine stocks and the
inclination was to plant more fashionable world
varieties. At the start of the twenty
first-century, demand for Pinotage is increasing
and the acreage now forms almost 5% of the South
African total for wine grapes.
Pinotage may
be made in several different styles: young,
light, and fruity, like Beaujolais, deep and
rich like a Cotes du Rhone or Zinfandel, or
elegant and restrained like Bordeaux are the
most common styles. There are also a few rare
'blush' versions and several fortified into
"Ports." At least one producer makes Methode
Champenoise sparkling red Pinotage.
So what should
you expect in a red Pinotage? Good depth of
flavor, a unique individual fruity refreshing
wine. Some tasters remark on a banana-like
taste. I have noted bramble fruits and a velvet
texture. It is a dinner wine, with good levels
of alcohol giving depth and structure and
keeping ability. But - like Zinfandel - there is
no old-world style for winemakers to model on,
so opening a bottle from a new winery is very
much an adventure.
The list of
top Pinotage growing estates includes
Kanonkop,
Simonsig,
Warwick,
Clos
Malverne,
Aventuur,
L'Avenir,
Uiterwyk,
and Middlevlei3.
The words "bush-vine" on a South African label
indicate that the vines are old, as it is only
recently Pinotage was thought worth the expense
of trellising.
Pinotage is
not unique to South Africa. It is made in
neighboring Zimbabwe and also widely planted in
New Zealand, where the relatively thick,
rot-resistant skin is an added benefit in this
humid locale. Unfortunately many of the original
New Zealand vines had a viral infection and
acreage severely declined. New plantings of
virus-free vines are improving the Pinotage
reputation in New Zealand.
Pinotage has
been planted in 4California,
with just four wineries currently producing -
J
Wines,
Phoenix,
Steltzner
and Sutter
Ridge.
Lake Breeze Vineyards in British Columbia
released Canada's first commercial Pinotage in
1999. There are also experimental plantings in
New York and Australia.
by
Peter
May
NOTES
1
Cinsault was known then in South Africa as
Hermitage, hence the name Pinotage. Cinsault is
spelled Cinsaut in the Cape and is a widely
planted red grape, taking a total of 4% of South
African vineyards.BACK
2
Pinotage is a cross - not a hybrid. A
hybrid results from two different
species, usually vinifera with native
American labrusca or rotundifolia
vines, of the same genus (vitis). Cinsault
and Pinot Noir are of the same genus and
species, both vitis
vinifera.
BACK
3 The
first varietal Pinotage wine offered for sale
was under the Lanzerac label (South
Africa).
BACK
4 J
Wines made their Pinotage debut with the 1999
vintage. Steltzner has been growing Pinotage
from the early 1970s and produces about 450
cases annually. Sutter Ridge owners Debbie and
John Bree have the largest planting of Pinotage
in the entire U.S.: 5.7 acres (1st harvest -
1996). The 1999 U.S. Pinotage harvest total: 13
tons. BACK
AUTHOR
Peter May is secretary of The
Pinotage Club, a free
and noncommercial organization whose aim is to promote, encourage,
and publicize Pinotage. Their website aspires to list every
Pinotage winery with tasting notes and label reproductions.
A regular newsletter is free on request. In addition to his
interest in Pinotage, Peter collects wine labels and publishes
the Unusual
Wines site to promote
wine diversity, featuring labels, varieties and wines of unusual
origin. He also contributed to PfW's Understanding
Wine Labels article.