Hazy View Pinotage
£9.99
£13.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 6 bottles available
An easy-going, fruit-driven introduction to South Africa's signature grape. Hazy View Pinotage delivers ripe bramble berries, a wisp of woodsmoke and that distinctive tobacco-leaf savouriness, all in a softer, more approachable style than the heavyweights. Perfect for midweek dinners, casual gatherings, or anyone curious about what Pinotage is really about.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We list a lot of Pinotage, and Hazy View earns its place by doing one thing brilliantly: making the grape approachable without dumbing it down. This is the bottle we hand to friends who say they 'don't get' Pinotage, and it's almost always the one that changes their minds. There's real fruit here, a touch of that classic smoky character, and a softness that makes it dangerously drinkable. At under a tenner, it's one of the easiest recommendations we make for anyone wanting a genuine taste of South Africa without overthinking it. Stock is on the lower side at the moment, so don't dawdle.
Tasting Notes
A modern, approachable take on Pinotage that leans into ripe fruit rather than rustic smoke. The nose offers warm bramble, blackberry and dark plum, layered with whispers of tobacco leaf and woodsmoke that hint at the grape's wilder character. The palate is medium-bodied and generous, juicy black cherry and mulberry carry through, supported by soft, supple tannins. A lively, fresh finish keeps it eminently drinkable, never heavy or chewy.
Warm Bramble Fruit
Ripe blackberry and dark plum lead the charge, the kind of generous, sun-soaked fruit that makes Cape Pinotage so easy to fall for.
Tobacco & Woodsmoke
A subtle savoury thread runs beneath the fruit, dried tobacco leaf and a hint of smoke that mark this out as unmistakably Pinotage.
Soft, Supple Tannins
Tannins are rounded and gentle rather than gripping, giving the wine an easy, medium-bodied frame that suits weeknight drinking.
About This Wine
If you've ever been curious about Pinotage but worried it might be too rustic or too bold, start here. Hazy View is the friendly handshake before the deep conversation, a modern, fruit-forward expression of South Africa's own grape that wins over sceptics and rewards the curious in equal measure.
In the glass, expect warm-berried fruit on the nose: ripe brambles, dark cherry, a curl of woodsmoke and that gentle whiff of tobacco leaf that tells you exactly what grape you're drinking. The palate is medium-bodied and supple, with soft tannins and a lively, savoury finish that keeps you reaching for the next sip. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel at a partner winery in Paarl, the focus here is on freshness and pure varietal character, no heavy oak, no smoke and mirrors.
The grapes come from across the Western Cape, where Atlantic breezes and warmer Indian Ocean currents meet to refresh the vineyards and keep the fruit honest. It shows in the glass: ripe, but never jammy.
This is your Tuesday-night roast chicken wine, your friend-round-for-pizza wine, your easy-going barbecue red. Try it with sticky pork ribs, a smoky burger, or a wedge of mature Cheddar. Genuinely good value, ready to drink, and delivered to your door anywhere in the UK.
Food Pairing
This is a midweek hero, flexible, friendly, and at home with the kind of food you actually cook. Try it with sticky barbecue ribs, a Friday-night burger with smoked Cheddar, or a tomato-rich beef lasagne. The savoury, smoky edge loves anything off the grill, while the soft tannins mean it won't bully a simple roast chicken or a takeaway pizza.
- —Sticky barbecue pork ribs
- —Smoked Cheddar cheeseburger with caramelised onions
- —Beef and tomato lasagne
- —Grilled boerewors with chakalaka
- —Roast chicken thighs with paprika and peppers
How to Serve
Temperature
Cool room temperature. A brief twenty minutes in the fridge before serving sharpens the fruit beautifully.
Decanting
No decanting needed. The tannins are already supple and the fruit is open from the moment you pull the cork, just pour and enjoy. If you want, a quick swirl in the glass is plenty.
Glass
A standard medium-bowled red wine glass is perfect, enough room for the smoky aromatics without over-stretching the fruit.
Cellaring
Not a wine for the cellar. Store upright or on its side somewhere cool and dark, and drink within a few years of purchase to catch it at its best.
Ageing & Cellaring
Built for drinking now rather than cellaring. This is a wine designed to show its fresh, fruit-driven charm on release, and it's best enjoyed within three to four years of the vintage while the bramble fruit and lively finish are at their most vibrant.
The Land
Fruit is drawn from vineyards across the Western Cape and vinified in Paarl, sitting in the lee of the Drakenstein and Klein Drakenstein mountains. The cross-currents of Atlantic and Indian Ocean air keep nights cool, slowing ripening just enough to preserve the bright berry lift and the smoky, savoury thread that runs through good Cape Pinotage.
The Winemaking
Hand-selected fruit goes straight into temperature-controlled stainless steel, where a cool, careful fermentation locks in the bright berry character and keeps the aromatics lifted. There's no heavy oak regime here, no winemaking theatrics, just a clean, modern approach designed to let Pinotage's fruit do the talking. The result is medium-bodied and immediate, with the smoky, brambly edge that signals Pinotage but none of the rustic weight that used to put people off.
The Western Cape Region
Le Domaine draws its fruit from vineyards scattered across the Western Cape, from coastal sites cooled by Atlantic breezes to warmer inland slopes, all planted between 50 and 300 metres above sea level. This broad sourcing is deliberate. By blending components from different microclimates, the cellar builds a consistent house style that balances the crisp acidity of cooler sites with the ripe generosity of warmer ones. It's the Western Cape's extraordinary diversity captured in a single glass.
About the Producer
Hazy View
Not every wine on our list comes from a single family estate with a name above the cellar door, and Hazy View is a good example of why that's no bad thing. This is a brand built with one job in mind: to bring an honest, easy-drinking taste of the Western Cape to UK tables, without unnecessary complication or a price tag to match.
The fruit is sourced from the Cape Coast, mostly from Swartland and Paarl, two regions that know how to ripen grapes properly. Both sit inland enough to get real heat and long, dry summers, but close enough to the Atlantic, around 20 miles away, that cooling evening breezes keep the fruit from turning flabby or over-ripe. It's a balance that Western Cape growers have relied on for generations, and it's exactly why South African whites and reds so often manage to be generous and fresh at the same time.
What makes Hazy View distinctive is the restraint in the winemaking. Both wines, a Chenin Blanc and a Pinotage, are vinified entirely in stainless steel, with no oak ageing at all. That's a deliberate choice rather than a shortcut. Without oak in the picture, there's nowhere for the fruit character to hide: the Chenin's orchard fruit and the Pinotage's dark berry, smoky edge come through clean and true to type. These are wines that taste unmistakably of where they're from.
We stock Hazy View because it does something genuinely useful: it gives curious UK drinkers a reliable, no-nonsense way into South African wine, without asking them to commit to a big spend or a steep learning curve first. Both wines carry Wine of Origin Western Cape certification, which guarantees the grapes genuinely come from within that region, so you know exactly what you're getting.
If you're after a straightforward, fruit-forward Chenin Blanc for a Tuesday night, or a Pinotage that shows what the grape does without any oak dressing it up, Hazy View is worth a look. It's not trying to be a cellar-worthy collector's bottle. It's trying to be a genuinely good glass of South African wine, delivered to your door here in the UK, and on that front it does exactly what it sets out to do.