The WOSA inspired question whether Cape blends, containing a minimum 30% Pinotage, can make exceptional blends, was answered in the affirmative this afternoon at a vertical tasting of Simonsig Frans Malan from 1995 to 2006. The question arose after André Morgenthal, WOSA communications director, poured eight SA blends for US wine educators at their conference with the wines having huge price and no Pinotage in common.

Assembled tasters included Platter heavy hitters Christine Rudman and Fiona McDonald as well as assorted Cape retailers and one of the biggest wine buyers in the country, Stephanus Eksteen, from Shoprite Checkers supermarkets, Africa’s biggest retailer.

Not the WOSA wine selection protocol committee

Winemaker Johan Malan explained that the 30% threshold came from the observation that under the old rules for domestic consumption, 25% Pinotage could be added to a Cabernet (say) and the wine could then be entered into competitions as either a Cape blend or a single varietal Cabernet, with double dipping all round.

Jan Boland Coetzee would say that the 1995 wine, made from Pinotage and Cabernet, was more of “a fusion” than a “true blend” while for me, the 60:30:10 (Pinotage, Cabernet, Merlot) 2001 was the benchmark Cape blend WOSA should consider for their USA campaign, as it had remarkable fruit character and pronounced minerality. Johan himself preferred the 45:45:10 2003 although this emphasis on Cabernet could cause confusion with his Tiara Bordeaux-style blend, the terrific 2007 vintage of which we enjoyed with our flame grilled fillets of beef with Vienese sauce and fried mushrooms in the farm’s Cuvée restaurant.

But perhaps Johan was thinking that by turning the Pinotage volume down he could perhaps pull one over on WOSA’s shadowy “wine protocol committee” that chooses wines for USA exposure. Easier to get a new committee, I would have thought.