Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal
Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal
The Next Big Thing: Pinotage By Kyle Baines Submitted to the Lethbridge Journal To say Pinotage is controversial is to say far too little. Some people, myself included, consider Pinotage to be a South African national treasure, just as Chile has embraced Carmenere. That said, South Africa’s “wine establishment” has always been very Euro-centric, believing that the only way to be taken seriously as a wine region was to focus exclusively on “proper” grapes like Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc. The result of this was that Pinotage was treated at best as an embarrassment, and at worst as a noxious weed, fit for nothing more than uprooting. South Africa has a bit of an identity problem, which is at the root of all of this. For a very long time, (up until about 1990) being Old World was the only way to be taken seriously as a wine-producing region. “We’ve been making wine since 1659” was the tagline that the South Africans used to separate themselves from the Johnny-come-latelys like the USA, Canada, Australia, and South America. That blew up in their faces nicely when, in 10 short years, the New World was FAR more relevant to export markets than the Old, and South Africa found themselves with a serious branding problem. Modern Pinotage is generally made by small, independent, and New-World focused winemakers. They also tend to be the more successful winemakers, as the New World style is a great deal more commercially viable. They also have embraced Pinotage, despite being a relative newcomer (first bred in 1925, at Stellenbosch University), and have given it the careful treatment it needs to ensure that it produces consistently high quality wine, as it is very easy to make very dreadful Pinotage. We are just at the beginning of “the wave” with South Africa, just as we were with Argentina about five years ago. And just as the Argentine surge in popularity was based around the Malbec grape, so too will the South African frenzy-to-come be based around Pinotage. The nice thing about right now is that we are ahead of the curve, and we haven’t yet seen either the attendant price increases or the influx of affordably priced, utterly terrible “designer wines” that tend to plague a “hot” region. At its best Pinotage smells absolutely unique, with massive mocha notes, mulberry, blackberry, and something smoky and savoury, like wild game. There is also, in the very best examples, an aroma that while distantly related to coconut, can only be described as “toasted marshmallow.” Never more than medium-bodied, Pinotage can be anything from austere, smoky, and decidedly Pinot-like, to generous, coffee-scented, and bursting with vanillin fruit, more like an Australian Shiraz or Californian Petit Sirah than anything else. Pinotage is something truly unique, neither Old World nor New World, not a big, bold red like Shiraz, but not a delicate or pale wine like Pinot Noir. It doesn’t have the great provenance of a classic grape like Cabernet or Chardonnay, it simply is what it is. Unique, charming, and a very tasty glass of wine, if you don’t try to over-analyze it to death. Three Great Pinotages to try: The Grinder Pinotage: $15.95 (South Africa) Barista Pinotage: $15.25 (South Africa) The Ruins Organic Pinotage: $17.95 (South Africa) 212 - 3 rd Avenue South 403-320-9464 www.andrewhiltonwine.ca Canada’s Oldest Wine Store! MAY 11 TH & 12 TH New Arrivals Week 1 MAY 18 TH & 19 TH New Arrivals Week 2 FREE Weekend Wine Tasting every Friday and Saturday after 2 pm 41068438 Southern Alberta’s largest selection of Wine, Scotch and Micro Brewed Beers www.andrewhiltonwine.com • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 8 LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca
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