Spice Route Swartland Pinotage
£20.00
£26.67 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 5 bottles available
Swartland Pinotage with proper Cape character, dark, brooding fruit from dryland bush vines, lifted by bright acidity and gentle spice. This is Pinotage doing what only Pinotage can: smoky, savoury, generous, and unmistakably South African. A bottle that pulls its weight at the dinner table without asking for special treatment.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Our Verdict
We rate Spice Route as one of the most credible names in the Swartland, and this Pinotage is why. Charles Back planted his flag here before the region was fashionable, and the estate still owns every vine, which shows. There's a precision to this wine that a lot of Pinotage just doesn't have: serious structure, lifted aromatics, and zero of the rubbery, baked-fruit clumsiness that gives the grape a bad name. Perfect for the curious drinker who wants to understand what Pinotage can really do, and for anyone building a small Swartland shelf at home. Stock is on the lower side, worth grabbing while it's here.
Tasting Notes
Deep ruby in the glass, with a nose that opens on blackcurrant and dark cherry, lifted by a wisp of sweet spice from the American oak. The palate is dense and concentrated, that hallmark of dryland Swartland bushvines, with layers of black plum, mulberry and a savoury edge that keeps things grounded. Bright acidity cuts through the richness, while subtle vanilla and clove from the barrel and clay-pot ageing add warmth. The finish is long, gently smoky, and unmistakably Pinotage.
About This Wine
There's a reason serious drinkers keep circling back to Swartland Pinotage, and this bottle is exactly it. Spice Route work with old, unirrigated bush vines on Koffieklip soils, deep ferricrete laced with iron-rich stones from the Paardeberg, and you can taste that struggle in the glass. Dense, dark fruit. A wild streak. Real backbone. Expect intense ruby in the glass and a nose of blackcurrant, dark cherry and a curl of woodsmoke. The palate is where it earns its keep: layered black fruit, fine-grained tannins, a savoury kick of spice, and the bright acidity that stops everything from feeling heavy. Fermented in open concrete tanks with hand punch-downs twice a day, then matured in tight-grain American oak with around 30% new, and a small portion rested in underground clay pots, which adds a quiet, earthy depth you don't often find at this price. This wants food. Slow-braised oxtail, a pepper-crusted ribeye, lamb chops off the grill with a smear of chimichurri. It'll also see off a properly mature Cheddar without flinching. Drink it now after thirty minutes in a decanter, or tuck a bottle away for five or six years and watch it deepen. We ship across the UK, and it's a thoughtful one to send to a Cape expat who knows their Pinotage from their plonk.
Food Pairing
This wants something charred and generous. A rib of beef from the Sunday roast trolley, lamb chops off the barbecue, or a sticky pork belly with apple sauce all work beautifully. The bright acidity and gentle smoke also handle a good venison casserole or a board of mature Cheddar and chutney with ease.
- —Charcoal-grilled ribeye with peppercorn sauce
- —Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic
- —Sticky pork belly with bramley apple sauce
- —Venison and red wine casserole
- —Mature Cheddar with quince paste
How to Serve
Decanting
Give it 30 to 45 minutes in a decanter, especially when young. The dense fruit and grippy bushvine tannins need air to unwind, and the spice and smoky aromatics really come forward with a bit of breathing time.
Behind the Wine
Swartland reds are shaped by sun, wind, and stubborn old bush vines that fend for themselves without irrigation. Hot, dry summers force the roots deep, producing small, thick-skinned berries with concentrated flavour and natural structure. Cooling Atlantic breezes off the West Coast keep acidity honest, which is why these wines never tip into jammy excess. Dryland Pinotage in particular thrives here, the stress in the vineyard translates directly into the density, dark fruit intensity, and savoury edge you find in the glass.
Ageing Potential
Drinking well now, but it has the structure to reward 5–8 years in a cool cellar. With time, the primary blackcurrant fruit will soften into dried-fruit and leather notes, the oak will integrate further, and that savoury Swartland earthiness will come more to the fore.
The Land
The fruit comes from a single block of bush vines on the Klein Amoskuil farm in Malmesbury, rooted in Koffieklip, a deep ferricrete soil of decomposed Paardeberg granite shot through with iron-rich brown and red stones. These soils hold just enough moisture for dryland vines to thrive and tend to produce reds with elegance and a firm structural backbone.
The Winemaking
The bunches go into five-tonne open concrete fermenters, where the skins are punched down by hand twice a day, old-fashioned, labour-intensive, and the surest way to coax deep colour and flavour without bruising the fruit. Once pressed off, the wine moves into tight-grain American oak, around 30% of it new, where it completes malolactic fermentation and matures. A small portion finishes its ageing in underground clay pots, adding a subtle textural lift that softens the oak's edges.
The Swartland Region
Swartland, 'the black land' in Afrikaans, named for the renosterbos that darkens after rain, rolls out north of Cape Town across the hills around Malmesbury and Riebeek-Kasteel. It's hot, dry, and stubbornly characterful: a place of old bush vines, granite and koffieklip soils, and a community of growers who've made it the most quietly thrilling corner of South African wine. Concentration, freshness, and a wild streak you don't find elsewhere, that's Swartland in a glass.
About the Producer
Spice Route
Spice Route is one of the names that made the Swartland matter. Long before the region became shorthand for exciting South African wine, Charles Back, the man behind Fairview in Paarl, saw something in this hot, dry stretch of land near Malmesbury that others overlooked: old bushvines, low yields, and soil that seemed to concentrate flavour rather than dilute it.
What draws us to Spice Route is that sense of conviction. This isn't a producer chasing trends. It's one that helped set them, proving the Swartland could produce structured, age-worthy reds rather than just bulk wine for blending. The name itself tells you what to expect: wines built on rich, ripe Swartland fruit, layered with careful oak handling, the way a good cook uses spice to lift a dish rather than mask it.
The range leans into varieties that thrive in the heat. Pinotage gets a serious, savoury treatment here rather than the confected style some associate with the grape. Mourvèdre, still rare in South African vineyards, shows real class in Spice Route's hands, offering the kind of dried herb and dark fruit complexity you'd expect from an old vine planting. And Chakalaka, named after the spicy South African relish, is exactly what it promises: a warm, generous, food-friendly blend that captures the whole philosophy in one glass.
We stock Spice Route because it represents Swartland wine at its most confident. It's not trying to be Stellenbosch, and it's not trying to be Bordeaux. It's proudly, distinctively itself, grown on a converted tobacco farm that turned out to be one of the best pieces of vineyard land in the country. Tim Atkin MW recognised as much, awarding the estate Cru Bourgeois status in his South Africa Classification, a nod to consistent quality rather than passing hype.
For UK wine lovers who think they know what South African red wine tastes like, Spice Route is a useful correction. Delivered to your door, it's a chance to taste the Swartland at the source, from a producer that helped put the region on the map in the first place.