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The hottest ticket in SA wine this year is the one to the vertical tasting of five decades of Pinotage at the Vermont beach house of the Prophet of Pinotage, Beyers Truter, this morning. Altydgedacht winemaker Etienne Louw and I drove up yesterday to help IWSC Winemaker of the Year Abrie Beeslaer and Beyers with preparations, a bit delayed due to windy conditions that delayed Abrie and Beyers diving for kreef.

Beyers, Abrie and Etienne spotting kreef yesterday

Beyers, Abrie and Etienne spotting kreef yesterday

“The last time we had a vertical tasting, the manne were falling around like paper bags in the wind” commented Beyers. To calibrate our palates for the ’63 and ’69 Pinotages, we tasted a flight of four Pinot Noirs along with a mielie bread baked by Beyers. My tasting notes:

p2

Kanonkop ’86 Pinot Noir. 1987 was the last vintage. “Why did you grub up the vines?” “Because they were the BK5 clone and conventional wisdom was that it didn’t make serious wine.” “What a pity!” The wine was still fresh and fruity with an amazing tannin structure. 18/20

Domaine Bertagna Nuits St. George Les Murgers Premier Cru 2000. Power and elegance that just kept getting better in the glass. 17/20

Hamilton Russell 2005. A touch of anchovy on the nose, a bit sulphury/chary that blew off with agitation to reveal a palate of tight cherries. Palate a lot better than the nose. 16/20

CWG Vriesenhof 2003. Big and Burgundian, rustic and earthy. Meaty bacon on the nose leading to sweet red fruit. 17½/20

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Comments

 

Kwispedoor

November 16, 2009 at 11:37 am

Ah – had that ’86 Pinot in April 2007 on a blind tasting – a good memory. Some of that Pinot were blended into their Pinotages in those days. On that same tasting we had a truly sublime 1992 Kanonkop Pinotage. All Pinotage detractors would swallow their predujices if they could taste that against their favourites in a blind tasting (presuming it’s also a good bottle)!

 

Kwispedoor

November 16, 2009 at 11:43 am

Ah – had that ’86 Pinot in April 2007 on a blind tasting – a good memory. Some of that Pinot were blended into their Pinotages in those days. On that same tasting we had a truly sublime 1992 Kanonkop Pinotage. All Pinotage detractors would swallow their prejudices if they could taste that against their favourites in a blind tasting (presuming it’s also a good bottle)!

 

merchiers

November 19, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Beyers Truter his Pinotage cuvées has given South Africa’s wine industry a very positive quality image in Europe.
Christoph Merchiers Ghent, Belgium

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  • About

    Called "South Africa's most influential wine writer" by DrinksBiz, a "wijngoeroe" by De Telegraaf, a "Master of SA Writing" by Ernst Gouws and voted “most trusted palate” by readers of WINE magazine, Neil Pendock is South Africa’s leading Indie drinks commentator.

    An "enthusiastic amateur", he owns a small farm on the Paarderg which used to supply a few grapes to Swartland Winery, a producer he never wrote about. After two decades in the spittoon, he retains a healthy disregard for the anoraks, bowties and Emperors of drink and their new clothes.
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