Before the 2025 Cape Wine Masters Graduation event,
we were treated to a very special Pinotage tasting, an early part of the Pinotage Centenary celebrations
We went into the dining area where all the wines were available for tasting with lunch as well as the very special Pinotages
Two very special Pinotage makers were there to guide the audience of Cape Winemasters, sponsors and media
through a tasting of some very special Grand Pinotages
It has been one hundred years since the Pinotage grape was first cloned from Pinot Noir and Cinsault
by Professor Abraham Perold on the 17th October 1925
Beyers Truter, owner of Beyerskloof, and Abrie Beeslaar, cellarmaster of Kanonkop and Beeslaar
Three famous Pinotages from Lanzerac; the one in the middle is nearly priceless as it is the oldest one still in existence
The 1959 Lanzerac Pinotage, made at Bellevue for Stellenbosch Farmers Winery,
was the first commercially available wine from the varietal
Bennie Howard CWM was our MC for the day
Bennie is the only survivor from the first three Cape Wine Masters who graduated in 1984
Both Tony Mossop and FC "Duimpie" Bayly are no longer with us
The room filled with Cape Wine Masters
The tasting sheet for the Grand Pinotage Tasting.
We each had seven glasses on the table, six for the Grand Pinotage tasting,
and one Lanzerac Commemorative Pinotage, a Tribute to History
The Pinotage Association has deemed some of the Pinotages to be so successful and so lauded
that they are now branded as Grand Pinotage
"(Made) 95 years after the varietal’s inception, they present Grand Pinotage:
a curated case of six wines featuring the past decades’ most prestigious producers,
truly emblematic of South Africa’s legacy
Offering collectors the pinnacle of the variety’s expression, only 500 cases are produced per vintage,
making this a rare and limited selection for those in pursuit of the iconic."
The class will be added to in the future
While we tasted, Beyers and Abri talked about Pinotage, the history, the present and the future
Pinotage is quite site specific; most of the best seem to come from the Bottelary area
The first was the 2019 Grand Pinotage from l'Avenir. Rich plum cherry fruit, some perfume, great wood
Sweet and sour berry fruit, the wine has quite an attack, it is young and bursting at the seams with dark fruit flavours
and incense wood supports on the end. It has a future
The second wine was the 2019 Grand Pinotage from Rijks in Tulbagh
Ethereal at first on the nose, there is elegance, with aromas of wood smoke and dark fruit
Pinot noir-like flavours on the palate with chalky tannins and dark oak
With long lasting berry fruit, it was made to last in the older style
Grand Pinotage 2019 from Simonsig was next. Smoke and incense wood, fruit shy initially then it opens
Silky soft on the attractive palate. Good berry and cherry fruit which opens on the palate
and continues with soft chalky tannins, spice, pepper and liquorice wood. Looong flavours and made to last
Grand Pinotage 2019 from Beyerskloof. Integrated nose with perfume, wood, fruit and promise
Dark berries, plum and rhubarb notes. Silky on the palate, smoke and sweet and sour berries,
steely with long flavours that stay on the palate. It will continue to age well
Grand Pinotage 2019 from Kaapzicht has a lovely nose of fruit, wood, age and class
and good berry, cherry and rhubarb fruit
Silky and full on the sappig (juicy) palate; raspberry, mulberry, Bing cherry - this wine calls for food and has such potential
Number six. Grand Pinotage 2019 from Kanonkop, made by Cellarmaster Abri Beeslaar
This wine has decades to go. Smoke, wood, pencil shavings and cherry fruit but softly now
A very good attractive nose with some vanilla on the end
Silky soft on the palate with gentle wood and fruit so joined in harmony, at first sweet fruit
then a bit of acidity to wake the palate and hold the wine together
Black prunes, cherries, raspberries and long delicious flavours
The tasting array and information sheet
The seventh wine was the 2021 Lanzerac, made with grapes from the original 1953 vineyard at Bellevue
Perfumed with roses and lilies, wood smoke and incense
Intrigued at what was to follow with more hints of dark fruit and mushrooms
Silky soft on the palate with lots of spice and pepper joined with good red berry fruit, more Pinot-like
Raspberries, strawberries, salty minerality truffle and crisp, bacon tinted wood
So complex, so different to the others but so enjoyable
Made by Cellarmaster Wynand Lategan who has achieved the top ten many times with his Pinotage
A note about the Lanzerac Commemorative Pinotage
Tables packed with glasses after the tasting
Mixed cases of the Grand Pinotages
Also for tasting were the other wines entered in the Pinotage competitions
and some Lanzerac Pinotages
Many good Pinotages and Pinotage blends
and more
and onward
et al. The Winemasters had a very good tasting; we held back a bit
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