Pinotage

In contrast to Zinfandel, Pinotage, sadly, seems to be in a bit of a mid-life crisis. Its cheap wines are usually underwhelming, its expensive ones often (though not always) overdone.

From The Tasting Teams

‘Pinotage has come a long way in the past 20 years, and there were some nice wines there, but nothing extraordinary. They just need to be more judicious with oak, as there’s no terroir showing.’ Victoria Sharples, St John Restaurant Group

‘Pinotage was a battle of different styles, between hugely savoury big wines and the lighter style with cherry fruit, although overall they’re better than they used to be.’ Dave Cushley, Prestonfield House

‘You can see they’re trying to create a premium and super-premium category [for Pinotage], but I’m not quite sure the product justifies the price.’ Tom Forrest, team leader

Award winners

Found 8 wines

New World: Pinotage

Chateau Naudé Wine Creation, Le Vin de François 2017, Stellenbosch , South Africa

'A serious wine with broad shoulders, showing some quality fruit and excellent oak. It's still young but showing great character and quality.' Mattia Mazzi, Cornerstone. 'Rich, intense and chocolate-tinged, with massive structure and plenty of fruit, oak and savouriness.' Martin Lam, team leader.

£90.18 Chateau Naude Wine Creation

Flagstone, Time Manner Place,Reserve, Pinotage 2014, Breedekloof, Western Cape, South Africa

'A sumptuous wine, and developed, with an elegant backbone of acidity and ripe tannins. Really well made.' Mattia Mazzi, Cornerstone. 'A grassy and herbaceous wine with cooked fruits and orange marmalade, as well as some spice and red cherries, and floral notes of violets and red roses.' Elisa Soggia, Trivet.

£38.97 Matthew Clark

Flagstone, Writer's Block, Pinotage 2017, Western Cape, South Africa

'A very perfumed wine that's charming and ripe in style, with some dark forest fruits and violet notes, accompanied by toast, smoke, leather and tar to add complexity. The palate's rounded with a firm structure and some smooth, powdery tannins.' Adam Michocki, The Man Behind The Curtain.

£15.10 Matthew Clark

Cullinan View, Pinotage 2019, Western Cape, South Africa

'With notes of cherries and black plums, with is a very fruity and juicy wine.' Elisa Soggia, Trivet. 'This has some juicy red fruits underpinned with some peppery spice, with good length on the finish. A cheap and cheerful wine.' Victoria Sharples, St John Restaurant Group.

£6.12 Matthew Clark

Stellenrust, Pinotage 2018, Stellenbosch, South Africa

'An approachable wine with a nice core of sweet red fruit. Easy to drink.' Dave Cushley, Prestonfield House. 'This is cool, soft and supple, with some creamy oak dominating the palate, accompanied by some grippy tannins with hint of tar on the finish.' Victoria Sharples, St John Restaurant Group.

£9.02 Bibendum

Winner Details