Unusual, for me, version of the grape. I thought I was drinking a pinot noir. Lovely nonetheless.
WINE DETAILS:
- Grape: Pinotage
- Alcohol: 13.5%
- Wine: MAN Family Wines Bosstok
- Vintage: 2018
- Winery: MAN Vintners
- Location: Paarl, Coastal Region, South Africa
- Date: 11/21/20
- Distributor: Fine Wine Imports
Curious Synonyms: Perold’s Hermitage x Pinot
Nerd Alert: Created in South Africa in 1925 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch University it’s a cross between Cinsault and Pinot Noir. Pinotage remained relatively obscure internationally until Beyers Truter from Kanonkop won the 1987 Diner’s Club Wine of the year for his Pinotage. It is a required component (30-70%) in “Cape blends” in South Africa. In recent years South African winemakers have experimented with producing Pinotage in a lighter style, picking grapes earlier for lower sugar and using whole bunches in fermentation to increase the acidity, a style more similar to the parent grape Pinot Noir.
Personal Note: Second wine from MAN on this list. First one was #8 Chenin Blanc. I don’t know why they don’t sell more. Low price, high quality is fine in my book. This wine however felt different than I expected. Not on a bad way I must add, but pinotage has its own presence and the whole time it felt I was drinking a cool climate pinot noir. And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Nevertheless I could have this on my fridge for ‘monday, tuesday, thursday, wednesday drinking without a problem. But I was curious because it’s not what I remember from the grape. As you can see from the last note on the previous paragraph, it’s a growing tendency.
#roadto500grapes #wines #winelovers #singlevarietal #singlevarietalwines #pinotage #winetime #redwine #manfamilywines #paarl #bosstok #southafricawines #peroldshermitagexpinot
*Sources for the wine facts are from: Wine Searcher, Wikipedia, Vivino, wine.com, and the wineries websites.
