Pinotage celebrates a century of its place among SA's home-grown essentials

The Herald

31-05-2025

How apt that two distinctive home-grown essentials of South African culture both celebrate 100th anniversaries this year — Afrikaans marking its centennial as an official language and our signature wine grape pinotage celebrating 100 years since its first experimental seeds were planted.
Pioneering Stellenbosch University viticulturist Prof Abraham Izak Perold crossed the French varietals of pinot noir and cinsaut (then known locally as hermitage, hence the name pinotage), seeking to combine pinot's elegance with the hardy, robust growth properties of cinsaut.
He planted the first seeds in 1925, mainly as an academic project, at the university's Welgevallen experimental farm, those first four seedlings kick-starting a fascinating history for a once-maligned grape that now holds its own on the global wine stage. (Read more at https://pinotage.co.za/about/heritage/)
In this year of celebrating innovation in SA wine, a winemaker known for his innovation in winemaking and marketing celebrates two global accolades for none other than pinotage.
Bruce Jack scored a place in the 2025 Drinks Business Master Winemaker 100 as one of just three South Africans named in the list of the world's top 100 winemakers.
The wine that secured him the spot was his flagship Heritage Flag of Truce Pinotage 2022.
Pinotage is known for its versatility, producing wines that can be full-bodied, rich and bold, dark-fruited, with savoury-umami, sweet and smoky flavours, through to softer-bodied styles that lean more to bright red fruits and floral notes wrapped around the savouriness.
Some of the lighter, fresher styles of pinotage can be almost pinot noir-like, a nod to its roots, while pinotage also makes some lovely dry rosés with distinctive spiciness.
Intensely toasting the insides of barrels (rather than illegally adding coffee grounds or chocolate chips as some assumed) produced another innovation in the popular coffee-chocolate style pinotage.
I'm not a fan of these, so the Daily Brew Pinotage in the Bruce Jack Lifestyle range (around R80, Tops at SPAR) came as a pleasant surprise, with subtle coffee and chocolate complementing abundant juicy red cherries, ripe plums and a soft creaminess to the mouthfeel.
Definitely one for a braai with lamb ribbetjies (the wine will cut through the fat) and anything with a tangy-spicy marinade.
Also in the great value Lifestyle range, the Pinotage Malbec is a regular in my shopping basket, an unusual red blend that Jack describes as 'black cherry pie with a pinch of thyme' — an apt description for a deliciously plush wine with fresh cherries, dark chocolate, vanilla and oak spice.
The Bruce Jack Reserve Collection Pinotage 2023 (about R150) is next-level, showing that versatility of pinotage — this one dark, brooding, velvety.
Black cherries, plums, dark chocolate and warm spice move from nose to palate with a frame of toasty oak.
There's a creamy richness to the wine, bringing to mind roasted fruit served with crème fraiche.
Pinotage is a volatile character that can be tricky to work with in the cellar, to avoid the unwanted pungency of nail polish remover or burnt tar that gave the wine a bad rap in the 1970s.
Which is probably why Jack describes his journey of pinotage-making as 'a tightrope between ambition and humility, between resilience and empathy' and perhaps inspired the name of Heritage Flag of Truce Pinotage 2022 (R570), which nails pinotage as it should be.
From a single vineyard in the Breedekloof, considered SA's best pinotage-growing terroir, the wine is smooth and silky, fruit purity in dark ripe berries, a distinctive but subtle garam masala spice, a background layer of vanilla and chocolate in a complex, finely balanced wine.
An elegant, eminently drinkable pinotage, but with a backbone that reminds you it could take a bit of lying down to fully develop.
Appropriately on the proudly SA theme, pinotage is great with a braai, especially things with spicy-tangy marinade or Asian flavours like hoisin and barbecue pork.
Jack also suggests it as an unusual and delicious partner to sushi — definitely one to try!
All the wines can be ordered at www.brucejack.com. The Reserve Pinotage is at Makro and selected Tops at SPAR, while the Lifestyle Range is exclusive to Tops.
The Herald