Pinotage

Pinotage was made in 1925 by Abraham Perold at Stellenbosch University, who crossed pinot noir with cinsaut. Cinsaut was called hermitage at the Cape, which gave the new grape its name. Perold planted four seedlings in his garden, forgot them, and they were rescued from the overgrown plot by a colleague. Every pinotage vine descends from that rescue.

It is South Africa's own grape and it divides opinion more than any other variety. Badly made it produces a sharp acetone or burnt rubber note, the result of high fermentation temperatures and a compound the grape is prone to forming. That fault was common enough in the 1970s and 1980s to damage the name internationally, and it still colours the reception.

Made carefully it is dark, soft, high in alcohol and full of bramble, plum and smoke, ripening early and giving generous fruit. The Cape now splits it in two directions: rich barrel-aged single vineyard bottlings from old Stellenbosch and Swartland vines, and a lighter, fresher style from younger vines. It is also the backbone of the Cape blend, where it is combined with Bordeaux varieties.