Origin:Stellenbosch, South Africa
Grape: Pinotage
Body: Medium
Year: 2014
Alcohol: 14
Price point: $9.00
Year Reviewed: 2017
If I only features my favorites, you would never grow and try other wines and other grapes. Pinotage, from hot South Africa has a unique smell and taste of its own. Pinotage was a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut grape back in 1925. First commercially released in 1959. The person who combined this together knew that Pinot Noir was hard to cultivate but Cinsaut was quite easy to grow. This grape has been given a bad rap by many people, and I say, try it and judge for yourself. Actually when I purchased it at a wine store, the wine manager, said, “I don’t like these, they taste like tar.” I was a bit resistant to buy any then, but I am a daredevil at heart. I will learn more about different grapes out there and expand my palate. Wine exploration is what I am all about. If you don’t explore, how will you learn? I bought the least expensive Pinotage I could find and, again I thought, maybe I am wasting away my money. Pinotages are one of the most debated grapes in the world.
On the eyes, such a clear, dark purple color. On the nose I get cherry notes, and yes, the tar smell they told me I would get. I also get a herb smell and hints of eucalyptus. On the palate, I was pleasantly surprised as I do get and intriguing wine with cherry, tapas restaurant Smokey salamis, charred ribs, just a hint of bananas. This wine builds in complexity after being opened an hour. I paired it with a mildly spicy shrimp, artichokes, black olives and tomatoes dish called Shrimp Veneza. The pairing went quite well. I learned that I will seek out some other Pinotages that I just researched for under $10 called Nederberg.