Quaffability

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

The heavy grey clouds lifted just enough to reveal the light dusting of snow on the Drakenstein mountains. It was the sort of sight that is unusual enough in this corner of the Western Cape that it immediately lifts the spirits and brings out a childlike wonder in us all. If we’re lucky it happens once a year. Consequently, it was the first topic of conversation among the judges at Wine magazine’s final swansong – the Best Value Guide selection taking place at Pearl Valley golf course.

On day three of the tasting we needed a lift of our spirits since a number of us were leopard crawling towards the finish line! We’d already done a screening session of the nearly 1 000 entries and reduced the numbers to a more manageable total for two panels to tackle over three mornings.

The barrier to entry for this competition is that a wine cost R60 or less – and that it also makes a minimum 2½ star quality threshold. Now, to my mind, R60 or less can buy you a whole lot of value when looking at a simple, easy-drinking wine. In the white wine category there’s a huge amount of choice and variety. With red wines it’s somewhat more difficult because you have to factor in a certain amount of oak influence – in whatever shape or form, usually chips or staves.

So it was a real pleasure that the category which displayed the most abundant drinking pleasure and quaffability was Pinotage. Ample ripe and juicy freshness with lovely primary fruit – think raspberries, cranberries and even blackberries with just a light sheen of oak. It’s not going to have the thinking man’s drinker hunting for adjectives or hidden depths but it will offer lots of enjoyment either around the braai fire or the dinner table accompanying a stew.

Of course, coffee Pinotage has been a topic of conversation of late. Just this week Wines of South Africa released a statement about the Department of Agriculture’s stance on the topic viz. that when it is wood-derived as part of the winemaking process it is fully compliant with the law. This coffee style first emerged from Diemersfontein in 2001, “by accident” as winemaker at the time Bertus Fourie admits. So it was interesting to note that there were just two examples in this under R60 class which displayed that character. One of them proclaims its style in the name (which cannot be released since the competition results have not been announced) but the coffee character is not as overt as it has been in previous years. There’s no doubt that consumers love being able to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ but winemakers are toning it down to a slightly decaffeinated or skinny version…

Pinotage has been beaten up quite roundly over the past few years – by local and foreign critics. It’s fantastic that the pendulum has swung the other way and that this competition and others are finding merit in the grape – even if it is just simple, everyday enjoyment. Keep it uncomplicated, don’t overdo the winemaking or oaking and it’ll reward with drinking pleasure in abundance.