Wine with Gerard Richardson

HAD a pinotage lately? Perhaps the question should be, have you ever had a pinotage? It’s the Cape’s homegrown variety and, despite being two years short of 100 years old, it still divides opinion, with some writers suggesting that its inventor should have strangled it at birth.

Pinotage is the love child of two grapes with which I have a lovehate relationship: Pinot Noir and Cinsault.

The result is a grape that also divides opinion but it keeps drawing me back.

It’s the unique difference of pinotage that makes it the ideal wine to open at a dinner party or to gift to a wine lover who may be stuck in their affair with Aussie Merlot. The first thing that tells you the wine is different is the aroma, but anyone who has experimented with home made wines by adding banana skins (trust me, it was a thing in the 1990s) will recognise it.

Then you have the palate which can vary immensely from sugary bubblegum at the bargain end of the market to leathery, intense black fruits with spices at the quality end. The moral of this story is, like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it, but you won’t know until you give it a go!

Radford Dale, Vinum Pinotage

This is one of the best you will find and a rare example of the true capabilities of the grape but then Radford Dale is one of the finest wineries in South Africa. Ripe, juicy black fruits with very soft tannins and a slight hint of pepper on the finish. www.oddbins.com £14

Pinotage Rhebokskloof 2019

This is an intriguing wine, with the nose giving the opinion that it’s a bit light and perhaps just a bit of fun, but the palate is complex, layered and a great partner for barbecue dishes. Autumn fruits and a hint of oak on the finish. A classy wine.