Winemaker Notes
The nose is beautifully aromatic, with scented aromas of red currants, macerated cherries, and cinnamon spice. The palate displays a silky tannin structure, backed by a fine seam of acidity. Subtle vanilla undertones from the integrated oak profile are juxtaposed against a fruit explosion of wild bramble, plums, and black berries. An elegant wine of intense purple hues, it lingers at the finish with juicy, dark plums flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
There’s a slight warmth to the nose of this wine, which opens with aromas of licorice root, char, baked plum and roasted blackberry alongside a touch of balsamic herbs and minty rooibos. It’s plush in feel and full in weight, with gripping tannins that support all of that ripe black fruit flavor. Ample acidity assists with balance, while the long finish shows beautiful evolution.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Displaying a dark ruby core with purple and red hints on the rim, the 2018 Pinotage Stellenbosch opens with a nose of sweet, confected plums, black raspberry, mocha and hints of sweet oak spice. Medium to full-bodied, the wine displays sweet fruit on the palate with a generous helping of 80% new French oak. It ends with sappy plums and black cherry skin flavors that give way to tight tannins that linger on the long finish. There are plenty of winemaking practices happening with the expression that creates an enjoyable experience for the drinker.
South Africa’s signature grape, Pinotage is a distinctively earthy and rustic variety. In 1924 viticulturists crossed finicky Pinot Noir and productive, heat-tolerant Cinsault, and created a variety both darker and bolder than either of its parents! Today it is popular in South Africa both as a single varietal wine and in Cape blends. Somm Secret—The name “Pinotage” is a subtle portmanteau. The Pinot part is obvious, but the second half is a bit confusing. In the early 1900s, Cinsault was known in South Africa as “Hermitage”—hence Pinotage.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.