Column: Hooray! Pinotage is (almost)100 years old!

Bregje van Weezel (47) lives with her family in Cape Town, South Africa. She writes about her experiences in the colourful but also complex country. In this column, she shares her enthusiasm and knowledge about the South African wine industry. Her stories are neither too dry nor too heavy and this column is entirely on her (wine) mind. If you would like to read more about everything she likes in South Africa, you can follow Bregje on Instragram @vin_ik_leuk

Column: Hooray! Pinotage is (almost) 100 years old!

Next year, South Africa's most famous grape pinotage celebrates its centenary. A national pride here, but sadly barely conquered by the rest of the world. Is that justified or not?

Orphaned plants

Let me start at the beginning. This grape originated because a well-known professor crossed the grapes pinot noir and hermitage. He did this at the request of the Cape government, as they wanted a wider variety of grapes. The professor took this task quite seriously, as he created no less than two hundred new varieties! Why he crossed the prince of red grapes, pinot noir with the somewhat pummelling blue hermitage, now called cinsault, is a mystery. But at least it resulted in four pinotage seeds, whose name is a composite of the two "parents."

The professor totally lost interest in it when he got another job. His former colleagues took care of the orphaned plants and went into the (wine) business. Without much success. Only more than 30 years later, when the Bellevue winery won the top prize with a bottle of pinotage at a wine show, did the new grape get noticed.

Only after the abolition of apartheid did real attention come to this grape. That around the same time Kanonkop's pinotage was voted the best red wine in the world and the that winemaker, became international winemaker of the year helped. Now in South Africa, pinotage comprises about seven per cent of wine sales. But why do we hardly see this grape anywhere else?

Banana and bubblegum

Actually, I think it's a very fine grape, but at the same time I don't. It has an annoying tendency to smell like acetone, and the typical flavours of banana and bubblegum don't combine very well either. Those quirks can easily be tamed with extra care and attention in the vineyards and cellar. But therein lies the crux. That involves extra costs, and "costly" does not fit the image of pinotage at all. Fortunately, there are plenty of winemakers and wineries, who continue to believe in this attention-demanding grape with an image problem. They know better than anyone how to keep the numbers in the vineyards small, ripen them optimally and bring out the right flavours. As a result, you get a red wine like no other, typically South African and authentic. An ideal wine to accompany the barbecue. Or a braai, as they say here. Another South African institution.

Chilled

Therefore, more recognition seems appropriate to me. Still in doubt? Then try pinotage in the blend. For example, in a Cape blend, which consists of at least 30% of pinotage. Or in a rosé. For instance, you can wake me up for Delheim's pinotage rosé. In this wine, you taste how surprisingly fruity the grape can also be. At the first sip, the strawberries always come and say "hello" in a pleasant way But anyway; I think, with the global trend of chilled drinking of light red wines, now is the moment for pinotage to become more loved and internationally embraced. And what better time, than a centenary? Fortunately, we still have a whole new year to let the world know, that this young grape is truly mature.

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