If some wines are masculine and others feminine then Pinotage is the naughty boy of SA wine. Love it or hate it but don’t ignore it, Pinotage is the taste of South Africa, the Trompie of Terroir with bruised knees and attitude to burn. A wild and aggressively fruited cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut as old as Jay Gatsby with all the excesses of Baz Luhrmann, Pinotage can also make wines of incredible finesse and complexity with old Lanzerac vintages from the sixties pure Burgundy. First bottled over 50 years ago, it has been something of a local hero ever since.

One of the most fun blind tastings of the year is the annual ABSA Top Ten which this year went down at Nederburg in July. Guido Francque of Michelin three star brasserie Hertog Jan in Brugge was foreign judge and other tasters included Winnie Bowman, Debbie Thompson, Frans Smit, Chris Roux and yours truly, all kept on the straight and narrow by chairman Duimpie Bayly.

A Top Twenty was selected blind from 126 entries and these were whittled down to a Super Six which comprise the first exhibition at the Pendock Wine Gallery @ Taj. The public opening of the exhibition takes place at 6pm on Thursday 5th September at the Gallery on the corner of Wale streets and St. Georges Mall in Cape Town. A stone’s throw from the Company Gardens where grapes were grown for the first SA wine 355 years ago.

Pinotage is the USP of a broader SA wine industry and a unique calling card that anyone remotely interested in the fermented fruit of the vine should try at least once before they die. See you on the 5th.