Mysterious Grape, Singular Wine … by Madeline Triffon
Pinotage (pea-no-tahj) is a red variety uniquely South African, and whose origin provides us with a delicious story. A cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault (sin-sow), it was brought into the world by Abraham Izak Perold, a professor of viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch. In 1925, working in the garden of his residence, Perold brushed a male Cinsault flower against a pollen donor Pinot Noir, and Pinotage (“Pinot” + “Hermitage”) was born. Cinsault had been mysteriously knows as “Hermitage”; it bears zero relation to the Rhône’s Syrah-based Hermitage. It’s said that “Herminoir” was also a name option!
Why would Perold cross 2 grapes with so very little in common? Burgundy’s Pinot Noir is capable of producing gloriously fragrant, translucent, tender reds, and is very tricky to grow. Cinsault is a fertile grape, withstanding the heat of southern France and South Africa and widely used in blends. One could imagine the professor’s vision of melding the finer potential of both grapes, but he left no records of his thinking on the subject. His experiment was almost lost to the oeno-ages: story has it that the garden’s vines were being cleared out when a young instructor happened by on bike and salvaged four seedlings.
Examples of Pinotage available to us in the U.S. don’t lend themselves easily to stylistic generalization. The wines are uniformly darker and more tannic than Pinot Noir, though not as dense and drying as Cabernet. They can be simple or complex, expensive or not. The aromatics do usually include an unusual scent that defies description: smoky, in the way that Scotch whiskey is smoky, earthy-tarry, medicinal, like iodine. If there’s just a titch of this aroma, it adds complexity and “South-African-ness”. If dominant, it can be off-putting. Truth be told, other South African reds incubate that smell as well, so it’s not really accurate to call it a Pinotage signature. Whether it’s grape-based, terroir-driven or wood-derived, the answer will vary depending on which South African wine expert one asks.
The first Pinotage wine was actually made in 1941. Early plantings expanded as farmers took advantage of the grape’s ease of growth, early-ripening and love for a sunny clime. Much of it was used in value blends or distilled. The grape was dealt a blow in the mid-seventies when its wines received poor critical press. It wasn’t until about 10 years later that impressive tastings of older bottles reversed the negative reputation. In 1991, at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, the winemaker at the respected Kanonkop winery was named “International Winemaker of the Year” for making, you got it, Pinotage.
Older plantings of Pinotage are well-respected, yielding concentrated, age-worthy bottlings. The grape handles dry (un-irrigated) farming well, yielding darker jammy berry fruit in warmer growing regions. Pinotage seems to travel well, performing well in cooler growing regions too and enjoying hillside vineyards. Less pricey examples can be fruity and easy, reminiscent perhaps of modest Zinfandel. This much seems evident, that Pinotage expresses itself in a broad variety of styles and price points. It even has its own club, the Pinotage Association, established in 1995 dedicated to fanning the resurgence of interest in the grape in the minds of both winemakers and consumers.
If you’re a wine aficionado, smacking your lips at the thought of a unique “something” that resists easy definition, how can you avoid the adventure of buying Pinotage? Spend a little money. Cellar some bottles for a time. Look to be entertained and surprised. And try and come up with your own tidy description!
Cheers!
