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Pinotage Random House Dictionary is a red wine grape that is South Africa's signature variety. It was cultivated there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut (Cinsaut was known as "Hermitage" in South Africa at that time, hence the name). It typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of and tropical fruit. The grape is a viticulture intraspecific cross of two varieties of Vitis vinifera, not an interspecific hybrid grape.
The young plants were moved to Elsenburg Agricultural College under Perold's successor, CJ Theron. In 1935 Theron grafted them onto newly established Richter 99 and Richter 57 rootstock at Welgevallen. Meanwhile, Perold continued to visit his former colleagues. Theron showed him the newly grafted vines, and the one that was doing best was selected for propagation and was christened Pinotage. The first wine was made in 1941 at Elsenburg, with the first commercial plantings at Myrtle Grove near Sir Lowry's Pass. Also in 1941 Pinotage vines were planted at the Kanonkop Estate by Paul Sauer and Danie Rossouw, the wines of which have later risen to great fame and can mature up to 25 years, so that this estate has even been called "a formidable leader of Cape's red wine pack."André Dominé: Wine, p. 763. Könemann, 2005. (Finland edition.) John Platter South African Wines, 2003, p. 261. The John Platter SA Wine Guide (Pty) Ltd.
The first recognition came when a Bellevue wine made from Pinotage became the champion wine (General Smuts Trophy Winner) at the Cape Wine Show of 1959, followed by Sauer & Rossouw in 1961 with their Pinotage from Kanonkop Wine Estate. The Bellevue wine would become the first to mention Pinotage on its label in 1961, when Stellenbosch Farmer's Winery (SFW) marketed it under their Lanzerac brand. This early success, and its easy viticulture, prompted a wave of planting during the 1960s.
Oz Clarke has suggested that part of some South African winemakers' disdain for Pinotage stems from the fact that it's a distinctly New World wine while the trend for South African wine is to reflect more European influences and flavours. Despite being a cross from a Burgundy wine and Rhône grape, Pinotage reflects none of the flavours of a French wine.Oz Clarke, Encyclopedia of Grapes, p. 186. Harcourt Books 2001 While not a critique itself, outside of small plantings most notably in New Zealand and the United States, Pinotage has yet to develop a significant presence in any other wine region.T. Stevenson The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia p. 444. Dorling Kindersley 2005
From 2007 to 2017, the quality, demand, and supply of Pinotage grew significantly. From around 3 million litres of Pinotage a year at the turn of the century, domestic sales have increased to over 5 million litres, and exports since 2001 have gone from just over 8 million litres a year to close on 19 million litres – contributing an estimated R495 million to the local economy in 2017.
In two decades, winemakers and marketers embraced this grape cultivar, which led to the expansion of the market for Pinotage globally. Competitions like the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Awards, which started in 1997, and initiatives by organisations like the Pinotage Association have assisted in establishing this uniquely South African wine. Accolades like the 2017 Tim Atkin's South African Red Wine of the Year (awarded to Beeslaar Pinotage) confirms the trend of quality Pinotage wines. Pinotage weighed heavily in favour of Kanonkop cellarmaster Abrie Beeslaar being named the 2017 Winemaker of the Year at the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, making him the second Kanonkop winemaker to achieve the honour after Beyers Truter in 1991.
Of the 10 most-planted wine grape varieties in South Africa, Pinotage is the only red cultivar to have grown in hectares from 2007 to 2017. In 2017, the SA Wine Industry Information & Systems (SAWIS) industry body indicated that the total area under Pinotage vines was 6 979 ha, up from 6.5% to 7.4% of the total area under vines.
Admittedly, even more than 40 years after completely dismissing the grape, many in the United Kingdom's wine trade (one of South Africa's main export markets) still malign the grape as a whole, but slowly perceptions are changing especially with younger members of the trade becoming strong defenders of the grape.
The grape is naturally high in grape tannins which can be tamed with limited maceration time but reducing the skin contact can also reduce some of the mulberry, blackberry and damson fruit character that Pinotage can produce. Some winemakers have experimented with letting the grapes get very ripe prior to harvest followed by limited oak exposures as another means of taming the more negative characteristics of the grape while maintaining its fruitiness. Newer clones have shown some potential as well.
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.
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