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By South African Wines
A bottle for another household should sit a step above the everyday without crowding the host's own choice. Nederburg's Pinotage, with a little Shiraz in the blend, fits that gap and is happy to wait in a cupboard if it stays shut tonight.
Nederburg Pinotage is the red we suggest when you are carrying a bottle to someone else's house. It is a fruit-forward Pinotage with some Shiraz blended in, made by one of the oldest names in Cape wine, and it sits a step above a midweek bottle without competing with whatever the host has planned for dinner.
Choosing a bottle to carry takes a few seconds, and it shapes the first minute of the visit. You want it to show some thought about the evening, and you want the host to feel free to put it away for another night. A soft, generous red from a long-established producer meets both of those needs.
Nederburg has made wine in the Paarl valley since the late eighteenth century, when Philippus Wolvaart, a German immigrant, bought land there and set about building a farm. His gabled Cape Dutch manor house, finished at the turn of the following century, still stands and is protected as a national monument. For a host who grew up in South Africa, the name is likely to be familiar from home.
The modern reputation came largely through Günter Brözel, a German-born winemaker whose work in vineyard and cellar shaped the style the estate became known for. You do not need to recite any of this at the door. It helps to know that Nederburg built its name on consistency, because you are relying on consistency when you hand over a bottle that may be opened long after you have gone home.
At the door you usually have a few words in a hallway with your coat still on. Saying what the wine is helps the host decide where it goes: a Pinotage with a bit of Shiraz, soft and fruity, good with sausages or anything off the grill. That is enough for them to slot it into a future meal, and it carries no expectation that it gets poured tonight.
If they have already opened something for dinner, the Pinotage goes on the side or into the rack and nobody needs to mention it again. A gift that has to be opened on the night puts the host in an awkward spot, especially when they have chosen their wine to suit the food they are serving. This one is easy to set aside and easy to open later on an ordinary weeknight.
It is worth telling the host that it drinks best slightly cool, at around 16°C, which in a centrally heated flat means a short spell in the fridge before pouring.
This Pinotage is made for drinking young. The fruit is at its most lively in the first couple of years and the tannins are soft from the start, so there is nothing to gain from cellaring it and no harm in it sitting in a cupboard for a few months. That suits a gift, because the host can open it whenever a meal calls for it.
The vineyards sit on granite and shale, and the fruit keeps a natural freshness that stops a ripe red from tiring the palate across a long dinner. For anyone new to Pinotage, a soft and approachable bottle like this is an easy introduction to the grape.
The pairings point to households that cook generously. If your hosts are South African, char-grilled boerewors with tomato relish is the meal to suggest, and they may well have a butcher in mind for the sausages. For a family that does burgers on a Friday, a smoked Cheddar cheeseburger with caramelised onions goes well with the soft fruit, and the grill adds a gentle smokiness.
Vegetarian hosts are covered by mushroom and thyme tagliatelle, where the earthy mushrooms and the herb sit comfortably beside a soft red. Hosts who keep a smoker or a barbecue going will find sticky pork ribs the most natural match of all, and the Shiraz in the blend will please anyone who already drinks South African Shiraz.
For most visits we would take the Pinotage. If you know the host prefers a firmer, more structured red, Nederburg's Cabernet Sauvignon from the same range is the better pick, and the producer's name carries the same recognition at the door.
Whichever night it ends up being opened, the Nederburg Pinotage is best drunk within a couple of years and poured at about 16°C. Sausages and mash with a rich onion gravy is the supper we would mention as you hand it over, since almost any host can cook it on a weeknight.