WTN: 2006 Hidden Valley Pinotage (Stellenbosch)

My beloved Pinotage is always a joy to behold - especially when it's not made in an internationalist, politically-correct style (i.e. devoid of its edges).

14.5% alc./vol.; $17.95 at Vintages. Solid, high-quality natural cork closure.

Clear, medium ruby-garnet colour. Wonderful varietal nose comprising what I feel is the best that SA Pinotage has to offer: elegant wild strawberry, banana, leather and coal (though the "paintbox"-type esters are missing in this one). I could just swirl and smell this wine on and on ... Firm acidity on entry with a good amount of grip and lots of alcoholic heat - a bit too much for me. (At 14.5%, it's a bit of a bruiser; I really preferred it when Pinotage was in the 12-13% bracket; but with modernist winemaking styles taking the lead that style seems to have fallen out of practice.) The aromas are all Pinotage, but the palate is somewhat tame and short; it's a solidly well structured wine but the finish isn't especially long. No bitterness (I would have loved some).

Still, it's definitely one of the better Pinotages we've seen at Vintages this year; a few of the more recent ones did not speak to me at all, having been completely internationalized and stripped of the cherished nuances of old.

I really have to try Pinotage again, maybe the "paintbox" nuances will work for me when I do some touching up in the horse barns!!

I really have to try Pinotage again, maybe the "paintbox" nuances will work for me when I do some touching up in the horse barns!!

Thing is, Bob, you're not likely to find many of that kind of Pinotage anymore. It was a common style for many years, was well represented among the immediate post-apartheid exports to Canada (mid-to-late 1990s), but has been getting rarer all the time. Part of it is due to the unbelievable pressure placed on producers to either switch from Pinotage to other international varieties altogether (mainly Cab and Shiraz), or to "clean up" the wines by internationalizing them. Personally I'm in favour of all styles - the old style and the modern style - having shelf space. I don't like this war, if you will, that has been waged against the old style of Pinotage - especially since those leathery and astringent wines went so well with certain foods!

Bob

I know you,re joking but you shouldn.t get paintbox tones in Pinotage. The cause of that was discovered a few years ago to do with fermentation temperatures and all the Pinotage makers know how to avoid it.

Nothing to do with what Paul accuses of internationalising the variety, just to do with good winemaking.

Other tastes that have been attributed to Pinotage, e.g- 'burned rubber' is not specific to the variety but has affected a range of South Africa wines and an official study is underway to identify the cause.

Interestingly, Barkan(one of two wineries in Israel to release varietal Pinotage wines) released its 2006 Pinotage Reserve just yesterday. I've tasted that wine from barrel and advance tastings, last night not blind and today again but blind in my own tasting room and indeed a light but not at all offensive hint of burned rubber there.

Best
Rogov

P.S. to Peter May: No fear....two bottles will shortly be winging their way to you.

Other tastes that have been attributed to Pinotage, e.g- 'burned rubber' is not specific to the variety but has affected a range of South Africa wines and an official study is underway to identify the cause.

Oh dear ... I just fear that it will result in totally sanitized, predictable wines. Heck - I enjoy the distinctive character of SA reds that display that flavour (the coal/mineral thing - which is probably what others call "burnt rubber" - something I don't pick up very often in the wines).

I just see it as more internationalization, not simply an issue of good or bad winemaking ... though I don't doubt that in some cases there may have been bad winemaking.

've tasted that wine from barrel and advance tastings, last night not blind and today again but blind in my own tasting room and indeed a light but not at all offensive hint of burned rubber there.

Thank you

As I mentioned to Peter, I happen to like that aspect of Pinotage (and of many SA reds - specifically the leather/iron/coal thing) and wish that, figuratively, space were made on shelves to allow both styles: the high-ripeness, primary-fruit-defined wines (what I call the internationalized style) and the older, lower-alcohol, astringent, more "difficult" styles. I came to discover SA reds based on the latter, and frankly, the more examples I find of the former, the less SA wine I am compelled to seek out because it all ends up tasting like everything else, from wherever.