Diemersfontein Pinotage (2005): Wine Review

2005 Diemersfontein Pinotage
Where found? Wine Concepts, LifeStyle Ctr., Kloof St., Cape Town | Map
How much? R65

Drunk with? Dinner; table for two at Olympia; seared tuna and cob in a butter-herb sauce.
Did it suit? Just right – but not in a complementary sense, more of a “this wine is gorgeous in any setting” sense.
Value for money? Yes
SA Blog recommends? As a gift for your wine-loving friends, which you “accidentally” uncork and drink yourself.

Tasting notes
This, as the label says, is “the one”. It’s the most interesting Pinotage (South Africa’s own varietal – created in the 1930s out of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut/Hermitage) on the market. Its unusual flavor – coffee and toffee, mostly – bears testament to the fact that Pinotage has yet to benefit from well-defined taste parameters; at 70, it remains a decidedly immature varietal.

But who cares, really? The wine can be gorgeous, and the Diemersfontein variation, though one helluva mutant, makes for a rich tongue bath that will wash away the the taste of most other reds. It’s almost like a dessert wine, or a wine liqueur with tannins, if there was such a thing.

• For more on the Diemersfontein Pinotage, see our Harbour House Restaurant Review.
• Tip: The next vintage of this wine will only be out in August, and stocks of the 2005 bottle are running low in stores. But Woolworths bottles it under its own brand; in the wine section, look for the estate’s name amongst the Pinotage offerings (printed in small, light cursive under the label’s larger lettering), and you’ve found “the one”!

Estate notes
Diemersfontein
www.diemersfontein.co.za/
wine@diemersfontein.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 864 5050
Outside Wellington; overnight stays available; dine at the in-house restaurant, “Seasons”.