New World: Pinotage
2019 Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 0 Commended 1
2018 Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 0 Commended 2
Our Pinotage results this year were eerily similar to those last year. Not only were the number of medals exactly the same, so was the split of our two Golds: one great-value entry-level wine, and a more ambitious version around the £12 mark. The latter, from Spice Route, even picked up a Food Match award.
All of this suggests that this variety’s eye-rolling reputation is more or less consigned to history. Our tasters are happy to reward these wines when they’re well made, and increasingly they are. The days when a flight of these was like cleaning an ashtray with your tongue are long gone.
There’s some decent wine in here, and it does OK in the Sommelier Wine Awards every year. It would be interesting to see how it performed with a larger entry…
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘A surprisingly good flight. I was expecting them to be lighter, and maybe simpler, and low in acidity, but found them to be very good, particularly the highest-priced, which was beautiful, complex in structure, and with some farmyard notes.’ Elisa Soggia, Kai Mayfair
‘The highest-priced, at £26, is a very premium Pinotage. There’s definitely a market for that somewhere, but it’s very niche.’ Andres Ituarte, team leader
‘It’s a love-it or hate-it grape, and we had good examples on both ends of the spectrum, from big fruit characters to the most elegant style. It’s a good example of the improvement in winemaking in South Africa, where they’re letting the grapes express themselves.’ Andre Luis Martins, Cavalry & Guards Club