Home » Food & Drink » California Wine » Pinotage — a Rising Star in California?

Pinotage — a Rising Star in California?

© Alan Boehmer

Never heard of it? Well, take heart; you've got lots of company.

Pinotage is a South African varietal which resulted from an unlikely cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault at the University of Stellenbosch in 1925. Hybridizers normally seek to infuse the most desirable characteristics of the parents into the hybrid, which, ideally, sheds some of the less desirable parental traits.

The result of this particular cross was a total surprise. Few, if any, of the sought after characteristics of either Pinot Noir or Cinsault appeared in the hybrid, named Pinotage, combining the names of the parents: Pinot Noir and Hermitage, as Cinsault was known in South Africa.

In spite of the fact that neither parent showed a lot of color, Pinotage was deeply colored and fully flavored. It was sold in bulk to makers of blended wines until 1959, when a varietal Pinotage from Lanzerac won the top award in South Africa's Cape Young Wine Show.

Over the past three decades several South African wineries have attempted to bring out the full potential of this unusual varietal, most notably Simonsig and Kanonkop. We look to these wineries to produce the most definitive examples.

Our tasting panel assembled five Pinotages from three vintages for a blind comparison.

1996 Cathedral Cellar Pinotage Coastal Region 13.5% 10.49
1999 Edonia Pinotage Paarl 13% 8.99
2000 Fairview Pinotage Coastal Region 13.5% 13.99
1999 Cloof Pinotage Groenekloof 14.5% 14.99
1999 Kanonkop Pinotage Stellenbosch 13.5% 24.99

Reactions were very mixed, particularly among those tasters sensitive to tannin. Some of us found the inexpensive examples to be very good values, but the panel gave a unanimous nod to the rich elegance, beautiful balance and stylishness of the 1999 Kanonkop.

Pinotage is in many ways South Africa's answer to California's Zinfandel. Typically it's a big, deeply flavored wine with the best bottles priced substantially lower than comparable Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, and Syrahs.

Pinotage has been planted and vinted in several other countries. We know of examples from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Canada. But the most remarkable non-South African Pinotage we've experienced comes from California's Napa Valley. We think the 2000 Pinotage from Phoenix Vineyards may be a harbinger of great wines in the future. Here are our tasting notes:

2000 Phoenix Vineyards Napa valley Pinotage; 13.8% alc., $21
Dark bluish ruby color, nearly opaque, with a texture rarely found in young, dry wines at this alcohol level. Outstanding, spicy, mysterious nose which those familiar with Pinotage will find representative of the varietal. Others may find it reminiscent of aged red Bordeaux. Complex aromas of ripe plums, sage, pepper and truffles lead to a dense, chewy wine with delicious fruit forward flavors, good acid balance, and round, firm tannins. Indistinguishable from South Africa's top Pinotages.