…AND TO DRINK?
In one of my first wine columns, I wrote that if you wanted to fit in with wine bores, you should say that you don’t like pinotage. This South African grape, a cross between cinsault and pinot noir, smells of acetone and tastes of burnt rubber. But surely they can’t all be horrid? So, I have been on a pinotage odyssey.
I have taken the words of John Milton to heart: ‘I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary.’ I have seen my adversary and I have fallen for her charms: here are two pinotages that I love, and two other South African beauties.
Bellevue Estate Pinotage Houdamond 2010, £9.49, Marks & Spencer: in-store only
The nose smells of spicy oak with a whiff of nail varnish. It has the most beautiful, ripe, silky texture and a long creamy finish. Very sophisticated – the David Niven of pinotage.
Warwick Estate Old Bush Vines Pinotage 2010, £13.99, Morrisons: www.morrisonscellar.com
Not quite as smooth as the Bellevue, this has more prominent tannins and a smokiness that never strays into the dreaded burnt-rubber territory. Also a lovely orangey blast of acidity.
Oldenburg Cabernet Franc 2010, £25, The Cheese & Wine Company: www.thecheeseandwinecompany.co.uk
This grape produces light acidic wines in its home in the Loire. Here it tastes like a perfumed Médoc from a warm year – a great gift for the open-minded claret lover.
Lammershoek Chenin Blanc 2010, £11.95, Berry Bros: www.bbr.com
This is lovely stuff , with a magic tarte Tatin smell you get in the best Chenin; and in the mouth it’s rich, dry and tangy.
I have taken the words of John Milton to heart: ‘I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary.’ I have seen my adversary and I have fallen for her charms: here are two pinotages that I love, and two other South African beauties.
Bellevue Estate Pinotage Houdamond 2010, £9.49, Marks & Spencer: in-store only
The nose smells of spicy oak with a whiff of nail varnish. It has the most beautiful, ripe, silky texture and a long creamy finish. Very sophisticated – the David Niven of pinotage.
Warwick Estate Old Bush Vines Pinotage 2010, £13.99, Morrisons: www.morrisonscellar.com
Not quite as smooth as the Bellevue, this has more prominent tannins and a smokiness that never strays into the dreaded burnt-rubber territory. Also a lovely orangey blast of acidity.
Oldenburg Cabernet Franc 2010, £25, The Cheese & Wine Company: www.thecheeseandwinecompany.co.uk
This grape produces light acidic wines in its home in the Loire. Here it tastes like a perfumed Médoc from a warm year – a great gift for the open-minded claret lover.
Lammershoek Chenin Blanc 2010, £11.95, Berry Bros: www.bbr.com
This is lovely stuff , with a magic tarte Tatin smell you get in the best Chenin; and in the mouth it’s rich, dry and tangy.