My Wine of the Month for February 2023 is KWV Cathedral Cellar Pinotage 2019.It's a very drinkable clean bright fruity wine with a bit more seriousness about  it than the basic KWV. It's savoury with berry fruits, and could be kept - but why when it's so good now?Cathedral Cellar is the huge KWV cellar in Paarl lined with large 12,000 litre barrels with carved ends. At the end of the cellar are ..read more

Bruce Jack tells how an overheard conversation about a red variety called Bobal inspired him to make prizewinning Pinotage He was in the Spanish wine region of Utiel-Requena in Valencia home of  Bobal.He writes:'Ed Adams (my partner in our Spanish project, La Báscula) had just ordered some lamb cutlets cooked over the open flame (the house speciality), when his ears pricked up at the word ‘Bobal ..read more

My Wine of the Month for December 2022 is L’Avenir Estate Single Block 02 Pinotage 2015. It is a registered Single Vineyard  Estate Wine of Origin Stellenbosch, and Block 02 is pictured in gold on the label on an image taken from a satellite photo. The block was planted by the then viticulturist and winemaker François Naudé in 1985 as bush vines, but subsequently changed to low trellising. This ..read more

My Wine of The Month for November is Sutter Ridge 1996.  When I visited this winery in Amador County long ago it was growing 25 acres of Pinotage, the largest in the USA. I brought this bottle home but kept it too long.But no, this 26-year-old wine was delicious. Showing the brownness of age, of course, but plenty of sweet fruit. No tannin, and surprisingly little sediment. A beautiful delicate ..read more

 Platter's South African Wine Guide has announced its 5 Star wine for the 2023 Guide. Pinoate 5Stars are:Beeslaar 2020De Grendel Amandelboord 2020Diemersdal Prospect 2020Francois van Niekerk 2020illimis 2021Kaapzicht Steytler 2020Kanonkop Black Label 2020*Survivor Reserve 2020Red Blends, with PinotageBeyerskloof Faith 2018** = Category Winner ..read more

Pat Del-GattoVery sad news from Ontario. Pat Del-Gatto winemaker/owner of Del-Gatto Estates passed away on 15 Sept 2022 from complications following a stem cell transplant.His widow, Heidi, tells meWe had wonderful 2020 and 2021 Pinotage vintages - both quickly sold out. He was able to finish his 2021 vintages (as I always helped him with the work) and our kids completed all the bottling spring ..read more

 My Wine of The Month for October is De Grendel Amandelboord Pinotage 2019 (Estate Wine of Origin Durbanville).This is a most enjoyable new style Pinotage. Its dark red with bright clear ed highlights where it catches the light. Surprisingly the label states it's 15% abv because it doesn't show the alcohol.Subdued tannins, no leather tones, but fruit of the forest on the palate and finished all ..read more

 Which Pinotage shall I open? Which Pinotage will you open ..read more

“It was never the grape’s fault,” Beyerskloof winemaker Anri Truter says of the historical perception of Pinotage in the UK. This is the first sentence in Drinks Retailer, a UK off- trade magazine, on Pinotage titled Can South African Pinotage make a comeback? – an analysis by Lucy Britner.Read the article here ..read more

My Wine of The Month for September is 2020 False Bay Pinotage The Last of the First Schapenberg Single Vineyard (W.O. Stellenbosch)This was light bodied with a pale colour, maybe trying to channel its Pinot parentage - or perhaps Cinsaut. We were split on this, one of liked it but not me… I found it had the same strange taste that I got in other False Bay Pinotages, a combination of dustiness and ..read more