Pinotage

Information about Pinotage

Pinotage
Vitis vinifera
Perold's Hermitage x Pinot
South Africa
Notable regions:| South Africa
Pinotage [ˌpinɔˈtaʒə] is a red wine grape that is South Africa's signature variety. It was bred there in 1925, and typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit, but has been criticised for sometimes smelling of acetone. Pinotage is often blended, and also made into fortified wine and even red sparkling wine.[1]

Origin

Pinotage is a grape variety that was created in South Africa in 1925 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch University. Perold was attempting to combine the best qualities of the robust Cinsault with Pinot Noir, a grape that makes great wine but can be difficult to grow. Cinsault is known as Hermitage in South Africa, hence the portmanteau name of Pinotage.

Pinotage is a viticultural cross, not a hybrid. In plant breeding, a cross is a cultivar which is the result of crossing two or more cultivars within the same species, while a hybrid is a cultivar bred from members of different species. Both of Pinotage's ancestors are Vitis vinifera.

History

Pinotage only survived its early years by a series of lucky accidents. Perold planted the four seeds from his cross in the garden of his official residence at Welgevallen Experimental Farm and then seems to have forgotten about them. In 1927 he left the university for a job with KWV and the garden became overgrown. The university sent in a team to tidy it up, just as Charlie Niehaus happened to pass by. He was a young lecturer who knew about the seedlings, and rescued them from the clean-up team.[2]

The young plants were moved to Elsenburg Agricultural College under Perold's successor, CJ Theron. In 1935 Theron grafted them onto newly established Richter 99 and Richter 57 rootstock at Welgevallen. This was another piece of luck, as the other rootstocks there were so badly infected with viruses that they had to be destroyed.[2]

Meanwhile Perold continued to visit his former colleagues. Theron showed him the newly grafted vines, and the one that was doing best was selected for propagation and was christened Pinotage. The first wine was made in 1941 at Elsenburg, with the first commercial plantings at Myrtle Grove near Sir Lowry's Pass.[2]

The first recognition came when a Bellevue wine made from Pinotage became the champion wine at the Cape Wine Show of 1959. This wine would become the first wine to mention Pinotage on its label in 1961, when Stellenbosch Farmer's Winery (SFW) marketed it under their Lanzerac brand.[3] This early success, and its easy viticulture, prompted a wave of planting during the 1960s. A group of British Masters of Wine visited in 1976, and were not impressed by Pinotage, calling the nose 'hot and horrible' and comparing the taste to "rusty nails".[3] This was probably more of a comment on winemaking during the apartheid years rather than the grape, but it led to many established vineyards being ripped up as interest slumped.

However a few winemakers kept the faith, notably Beyers Truter (now of Beyerskloof), who won the Diner's Club Winemaker of the Year in 1987 with his Kanonkop Pinotage.[4] This success prompted renewed interest in the grape.

Standards of winemaking in South Africa have certainly improved since the days of "rusty nails", but there remains a faction who believe that Pinotage has no place in a vineyard - André van Rensburg of Vergelegen famously claimed that "Pinotage is as untenable as child rape".[5]

Distribution and Wines

Aside from the countries listed below, Pinotage is also grown in Brazil, Canada, Israel and Zimbabwe.

New Zealand

There are 94 acres of Pinotage in New Zealand.

South Africa

Almost all Pinotage is to be found in South Africa, where it makes up just 6.7% of the vineyard area but is considered a symbol of the country's distinctive winemaking traditions. It is a required component (30-70%) in "Cape blends".

In South Africa it is made into the full range of styles, from easy-drinking quaffing wine and rosé to barrel-aged wine intended for cellaring. It is also made into a fortified 'port' style, and even a red sparkling wine.

USA

A little Pinotage is grown in both California and Virginia.

Vine and Viticulture

The vines are vigorous like their parent Cinsaut and easy to grow, ripening early with high sugar levels.[3]

Synonyms

Perold's Hermitage x Pinot. The alternative name 'Herminoir' was considered.[2]

See also

External links

References

1. ^ Robinson, Jancis Vines, Grapes & Wines Mitchell Beazley 1986 ISBN 1857329996
2. ^ Pinotage History : Birth. Pinotage Association. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
3. ^ Pinotage History : Recognition. Pinotage Association. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
4. ^ Pinotage History : Rebirth. Pinotage Association. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
5. ^ McDonald, Fiona. Fairbairn Capital Trophy Wine Show. WINE Magazine, South Africa. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.


Wines
 •  • [ e]
Wine styles:Red/White • Ros/Blush • Sparkling • Dessert • Fortified • Fruit • Ice Wine
Notable
varietals:		White
Albario • Chardonnay • Chenin blanc • Gewrztraminer • Muscat • Pinot blanc • Pinot gris • Riesling • Sauvignon blanc • Smillon • Viognier		Red
Aglianico • Cabernet Franc • Cabernet Sauvignon • Carmenre • Dolcetto • Gamay • Grenache • Malbec • Merlot • Nebbiolo • Barbera • Petite Sirah/Durif • Petit Verdot • Pinot Noir • Pinotage • Sangiovese • Syrah/Shiraz • Tempranillo • Zinfandel
Notable
regionals:		Amarone • Asti • Barbera d'Asti • Barolo • Barossa • Beaujolais • Bordeaux • Burgundy • Chablis • Champagne • Chianti • Commandaria • Do • Egri Bikavr • Madeira • Marsala • Mosel • Muscadet • Port • Retsina • Rheingau • Rheinhessen • Rhne • Rioja • Sancerre • Sauternes • Sherry • Tokaji • Valpolicella • Vermouth • Vinho Verde • Vouvray
See also: Glossary of wine terms • List of grape varieties • List of wine-producing regions • List of wine producing countries • Polyphenol • Varietal • Wine accessory • Wine grapes • Winemaking


Wine by Country
 •  • [ e]
Argentina • Australia • Austria • Bulgaria • Canada • Chile • China • Cyprus • Czech Republic • France • Germany • Georgia • Greece • Hungary • Israel • Italy • Lebanon • Moldova • New Zealand • Portugal • Romania • Russia • South Africa • Spain • Switzerland • Ukraine • United Kingdom • United States of America
V. vinifera

Binomial name
Vitis vinifera
L.

Vitis vinifera (Common Grape Vine) is a species of Vitis
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This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
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Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice.[1] The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.
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For the Tokyo University supercomputer, see Gravity Pipe.


GRAPE, or GRAphics Programming Environment is a software development environment for mathematical visualization, especially differential geometry and continuum mechanics.
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South African wine has a history dating back to 1659, and at one time Constantia was considered one of the greatest wines in the world. Under apartheid, the industry struggled with inferior grape varieties and industrial winemaking, but the dismantling of the old state
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fortified wine is a wine to which additional alcohol has been added, the most common additive being brandy (a spirit distilled from wine).

The original reason for fortification was to preserve wines, as the higher alcohol level and additional sweetness help to preserve the
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Sparkling Wine is a wine (not to be confused with Champagne) with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, (either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s  1900s  1910s  - 1920s -  1930s  1940s  1950s
1922 1923 1924 - 1925 - 1926 1927 1928

Year 1925 (MCMXXV
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Abraham Izak Perold, Ph.D. (20 October 1880 - 11 December 1941) was a South African chemist and viticulturist. Educated in South Africa and Germany, Perold is best known for developing the Pinotage grape variety in 1925 through crossing Pinot Noir and Cinsault. Dr.
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Stellenbosch University (Afrikaans: Universiteit van Stellenbosch) is an internationally recognised university which is situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape.
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Notable regions:| Southern France, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon
Chateau Musar, Ostuni Ottavianello

Cinsaut or Cinsault (pronounced "san-so") is a red wine grape, whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former
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Notable regions:| (see major regions)

Pinot noir ("PEE-no NWAR") is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines produced predominantly from pinot noir grapes.
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Hermitage grape is the name given to one of a handful of different wine grape varieties in different wine growing regions of the world.

In Australia it is another name for the Shiraz grape, the most widely planted red wine grape in that country.
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A portmanteau (IPA: /pɔərtˈmæntoʊ/) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning.
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Viticulture (from the Latin word for vine) is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture.
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The Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Bpkt (usually abbreviated to KWV) is a co-operative founded on 8 January 1918 by wine makers from the Western Cape in South Africa.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1973 1974 1975 - 1976 - 1977 1978 1979

Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI
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Vergelegen (Wine Producer)

Wine
regions: South Africa
Producer
type: Independent
Year
established: 1700 (restarted in 1992)
Part of: Anglo-American
Location: Somerset West
Total size (acres): 106.71ha
No.
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Motto
Ordem e Progresso   (Portuguese)
"Order and Progress"
Anthem
Hino Nacional Brasileiro
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Official languages Hebrew, Arabic
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Simudzai Mureza wedu WeZimbabwe   (Shona)
Kalibusiswe Ilizwe leZimbabwe   (Ndebele)
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Cape blend is a South African red wine made of a blend of varieties, one which must be Pinotage.

The Pinotage component should be not less than 30% and not more than 70% according to the Pinotage Association and accepted by Veritas who use the definition in their
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Rosé (From French: "Rosé", Pinkish) is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.
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fortified wine is a wine to which additional alcohol has been added, the most common additive being brandy (a spirit distilled from wine).

The original reason for fortification was to preserve wines, as the higher alcohol level and additional sweetness help to preserve the
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Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Oporto, Porto, and often simply Port) is a sweet Portuguese fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is often served as a dessert wine.
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California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, it is California where the great majority (up to 90% by some estimates) is produced.
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South African wine has a history dating back to 1659, and at one time Constantia was considered one of the greatest wines in the world. Under apartheid, the industry struggled with inferior grape varieties and industrial winemaking, but the dismantling of the old state
..... Click the link for more information.

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