Wine Education25 October 20264 min read
The Pinotage grape: what it tastes like and how it's made
By South African Wines
South Africa's own red grape, explained through three bottles from our range: one made in steel, one aged in oak and one pink sparkling blend.
Pinotage is the red grape South Africa calls its own, grown across the Western Cape and made in more styles than many drinkers expect. If you have searched for the Pinotage grape, you probably want to know what it tastes like and whether its old reputation still holds. The flavour is recognisable: bramble and dark berry fruit with a smoky, savoury thread running through it. That smoke is the clue that tells you which grape is in the glass, and our short guide to what South African Pinotage is covers the background.
The reputation is for rustic weight, heavy reds that put some drinkers off. Winemakers now have several ways of keeping the grape's character while avoiding that heaviness, and the three wines below show them: one made with no oak at all, one aged in barrel for most of a year, and one pink sparkling wine where Pinotage is a small part of the blend.
Pinotage made in stainless steel
The clearest way to taste the grape on its own terms is a wine made without oak. Hazy View Pinotage is fermented cool in temperature-controlled stainless steel and never sees a barrel, so there is no vanilla or toast from wood in the glass. You get bright berry fruit with a smoky, brambly edge, and a medium body that feels light on the palate.
The fruit comes from the Swartland and Paarl, warm country inland from the Cape coast. Cool afternoon breezes off the Atlantic slow the ripening, which keeps the berries fresh and stops them tasting baked. That freshness suits sticky barbecue pork ribs or a smoked Cheddar cheeseburger with caramelised onions: the acidity cuts through the fat and the smoky note in the wine picks up the char from the grill.
Hazy View was set up with British dinner tables in mind and makes only two wines, this Pinotage and a Chenin Blanc. Both are made entirely in steel, so this bottle is a useful reference point for what the grape tastes like before a winemaker adds anything to it.
