Today marks the inaugural International Pinotage day. Pinotage is an indigenous SA variety as it was created by Prof. Abraham Perold during the 1920’s when he crossbred the Heartbreak grape, Pinot Noir which is difficult to cultivate with hardy Cinsault (Hermitage), known for its underlying spiciness. Only four of the initial seedlings grew and he planted them in his back garden in Stellenbosch, only to forget about them soon after. Years later, once the Prof had moved on from his residence, a gardening team was sent into the university’s property to clean up the garden for future residents. The young plants were nearly sent to their graves, however, fate intervened, and just moments before the spade bore down on the vines, Dr. Charlie Niehaus passed by on his bike and recognised the need to intervene saving them from imminent extinction. Pinotage was initially ignored by the majority of the wine community except for a handful of experimental wine makers. It wasnt until 1950, when Pinotage, an underdog at the time and unknown to most, came out on top at the Cape Wine Show. Winemakers began to stand up and take notice of the interesting new variety with its juicy red fruit flavour profile. Since then, Pinotage has come a long way and is now one of the country’s signature wines. Now grown around the world, this cultivar has cemented itself as a South African icon, and can be seen as a beacon of our proud nations longstanding wine making prowess.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:41:48 +0000
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