The other week I was a guest at quite a posh function, so I made an effort and became very girlie for the evening.

There were a couple of surprises in store. Number One: I didn’t spill any red wine on my sparkly top (though I did knock over a coffee) and Number Two: I enjoyed the house wine, a pinotage. It was deep red, with plenty of black fruits and spiky pepper.

Pinotage isn’t a grape I’ve been drawn to over the years.

It was created in 1925 in South Africa by Professor Abraham Perold using pinot noir and cinsault. (Also known as hermitage, hence the compound name pinotage. Just think, it could have been named herminoir). The vines were forgotten but rediscovered tangled and overgrown.

It was the 40s before the first wine was made and over the years it has suffered a “love it or hate it” reputation. Some hasn’t been very nice.

Wines of South Africa (www.winesof sa.co.uk) says of the grape: “It can produce complex and fruity wines with age but is also often very drinkable when young. With great strides made in the making of pinotage, South Africa’s own variety is rapidly gaining increasing acceptance and finding favour worldwide both as a varietal bottling and in blends.”