Fox and Flamingo Rose
£13.99
£18.65 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 4 bottles available
A playful, free-run Pinotage rosé from Franschhoek's self-styled Rebels of the Vine. Rose-gold in the glass, crisp and delicate on the palate, with raspberry, strawberry and a flicker of grapefruit. Easy company on a sunny afternoon, smart enough for the dinner table, and proof that South African Pinotage has a softer, more elegant side worth meeting.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We picked the Fox and Flamingo because it does something we love: it makes Pinotage approachable without dumbing it down. Rosés can drift into either bone-dry austerity or sweet pink fruit juice; this one threads the needle, with proper red-berry character and a savoury mineral finish that gives it real interest at the table. It's our go-to recommendation for anyone who's been burned by heavy Pinotage in the past, or who simply wants a rosé with a bit of personality. Lovely for warm afternoons, brilliant value at the price.
Tasting Notes
Rose gold in the glass, with a nose that leans into fresh raspberry, wild strawberry and a soft floral lift. The palate is crisp and delicate, the free-run juice keeping things light on their feet: ripe red berries meet a squeeze of pink grapefruit, with a savoury, almost stony minerality on the finish that stops it ever feeling sweet. Dry, fruity, and properly refreshing, this is Pinotage in an entirely different register from the smoky reds you might know.
About This Wine
If you think you know Pinotage, this one will surprise you. Instead of the smoky, brooding reds the grape is famous for, the Fox and Flamingo turns South Africa's signature variety into something altogether lighter on its feet: a delicate, rose-gold rosé that drinks like a Cape summer breeze in a glass. The trick is in the press. Only the free-run juice is used (the first must to flow before any mechanical pressing), so the colour stays pale and the acidity stays bright. What you get is a crisp, gently aromatic rosé with lifted fresh red fruits and a hint of floral perfume. The palate hits raspberry and strawberry first, then a twist of grapefruit, before settling into a savoury, almost mineral finish that keeps you reaching for the glass. It comes from Black Elephant Vintners in Franschhoek, the Cape's old French Huguenot valley, where Kevin, Jacques and Raymond have built a small estate on the principle that wine should be made with skill and a sense of humour. The labels are playful; the winemaking is serious. Serve it well-chilled with grilled prawns, a herb-flecked goat's cheese salad, or a warm-evening platter of charcuterie. It's an easy gift too, especially for the friend who claims they don't like Pinotage. Delivered across the UK, usually within a few days.
Food Pairing
This is summer-lunch wine. Think a platter of charcuterie and ripe tomatoes, a salade niçoise heavy on the anchovy, or grilled prawns with garlic and lemon. It's light enough for goat's cheese on toast in the garden, crisp enough to cut through a Thai green curry, and dry enough to handle a properly seasoned chicken Caesar.
- —Grilled prawns with garlic, chilli and lemon
- —Salade niçoise with seared tuna and anchovy
- —Goat's cheese tart with caramelised onion
- —Charcuterie board with prosciutto and olives
- —Thai green chicken curry
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. Rosé this delicate doesn't want air; it wants chill. Pull the cork at the table and pour straight away to keep the aromatics lifted and the palate crisp.
Ageing & Cellaring
Drink young. Rosé this delicate is built for freshness, not the cellar, and the aromatic lift of red berries and florals is at its peak now. Enjoy within a year or two of release while everything is bright and singing.
The Winemaking
This is rosé made the gentle way. Only the free-run juice is used, the first liquid to flow when the Pinotage grapes settle into the press under their own weight. No mechanical pressing, no squeezing the skins for extra colour or grip. That single decision shapes everything: the pale rose-gold hue, the soft delicacy on the palate, and the bright natural acidity that keeps it lifted. What you get in the glass is Pinotage stripped back to its prettiest, fruitiest expression.
About the Producer
Black Elephant Vintners
Some producers let the wine speak for itself. Black Elephant Vintners lets the label do a bit of shouting too, and once you know the story, you understand why.
This Franschhoek outfit is the work of three friends, Kevin Swart, Jacques Wentzel and Raymond Ndlovu, who pooled their different backgrounds and decided winemaking should be taken seriously without taking itself too seriously. The name is a play on two of those surnames: Swart and Ndlovu become 'black elephant', and Jacques supplies the 'vintner'. It's a small joke that tells you a lot about how this team thinks.
They call themselves the Rebels of the Vine, a loose, collaborative team who work off good music and better instincts as much as convention. That irreverence shows up everywhere, from wine names like 'Three Men in a Tub With a Rubber Duck' to 'The Fox & The Flamingo', but underneath the whimsy is proper, considered winemaking. Fruit comes from vineyard sites scattered across the Franschhoek valley, with cooler parcels from Elgin, on the Cape coast, brought in specifically for their Méthode Cap Classique. That reach across warmer valley floor and cool coastal sites gives them options most single-vineyard producers don't have.
We stock Black Elephant Vintners because South African wine doesn't need to be earnest to be excellent. Alongside the structured, serious reds of Stellenbosch, it's worth remembering the Cape also produces winemakers who want you to smile before you even pull the cork. The wines back up the joke: bright, well-made Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, a savoury red blend with real character, and a Zero Dosage MCC that shows genuine technical skill behind the playful branding.
If you've only ever associated Franschhoek with fine dining and formal tasting rooms, this is the other side of the valley: same quality, same sense of place, considerably more fun in the telling.