Pinotage, New World
5 facts on Pinotage:
It’s South Africa’s native grape, very rarely seen outside of SA.
It’s a crossing between two grapes - Pinot Noir and Cinsault.
Typically it is a full-bodied wine with bold, coarse ‘Bordeaux-like’ tannins, concentrated dark purple and black fruit flavours, and, with extended ageing in wooden barrels, pinotage is known to take on flavours of chocolate!
It’s very often seen as a single varietal wine, but it can be blended with international varieties such as Merlot, Cab Sav and Syrah to make a ‘Cape Blend’ - SA’s answer to Bordeaux, if you will!
It’s the best wine for BBQ’s, sorry brais, so they say!
3 pairings for Pinotage:
Kale & white bean Caesar
(Recipe link). This may sound unlikely, but the punch packed by our vegan Caesar dressing is an almighty one… it would knock the wind right out of the sails of a smaller wine. Meaty portobello mushrooms are roasted in umami rich tamari and a little brown sugar - together these caramelise into a rich, sticky, complex flavour that’s reminiscent of smokey BBQ’d brisket. Trust us. Pinotage will be impressed.
Babotie!
(Photo below right) SA’s national dish which isn’t dissimilar to a shepherd’s pie or a moussaka in many ways. Try halving the amount of ground beef in your curried mince and sub in some cooked puy lentils to keep things vegcentric. The mince in a Babotie is spiked with curry powder and sweetened with dark, unsulphured dried apricots… Pinotage stands up very well to the browned, beefy flavours, the meaty body, and the complex spice in a Babotie.
Soy & ginger braised venison
(Photo below left) Pinotage’s dark purple and black fruits are a match made in heaven for wild, gamey meat such as venison. The umami rich, tamari infused sauce, and the acidic kick from a splash of rice vinegar, work to soften the tannins in your Pinotage. It’s a match made in heaven. You can grab this knock out recipe here.
One of our favourite bottles of pinotage:
Region: Stellenbosch, South Africa
Vintage: 2018
ABV: 14%
Purchased from: Wanderlust Wine
Cost: £16.50
Other info: This wine comes from Remhoogte Wine Estate - an organic and biodynamic vineyard with a commitment to pure, authentic expression of terroir. It’s spent 2 years in oak barrels.
On the nose:
This wine is savoury, herbaceous and complex. There are notes of pickled blackberries, dark plums, with a little dusty garage, leather and hide.
On the palate:
There are flavours of rich, silky black cherries, with just a little grip - that’s those infamous pinotage tannins talking. The wine feels warm with sunshine and booze (it’s high in alcohol at 14% ABV), and there are complexities of smoke, red meat and cedar on the finish.