Tasting Notes:
Eyes: clear, deep ruby
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, smoky, meaty, black cherry, leather, medicinal
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med acidity, high intensity, med tannins, med+ length, high alcohol
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing
My goodness, what a wine. I tasted the exact same wine a year ago in my WSET Intermediate classes, and I seemed to be more intrigued by it the second time around. Right off the bat, the nose is both repulsive and interesting – notes of charred meat and pungent spice attack the nose, with a balanced intensity and rather good quality on the palate. Fruit takes the backseat role on this one. At first I was turned off by the unconventional nose, but it intrigued me more and more as I went back to smell it. I feel like Pinotage is one of those nerdy unconventional wines you keep going back to once in a while.
Wine itself can be an acquired taste – Pinotage is an acquired taste within an acquired taste. This wine in particular displays a great expression of Pinotage at a palatable price. Normally I scoff at ultra-specific wine-and-food pairing notes, but I honestly would be interested to see what this would be like, paired with some legit slightly-charred meat because this is exactly what it smells like.
Producer: Lammershoek
Designation: N/A
Region: South Africa
Sub-Region: Swartland District
Variety: Pinotage
ABV: 14.5%
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: May 28, 2012
Price: $32
Give some BC Pinotage a try. I suggest Inniskillin and especially Stoneboat. Both are much better than most all South African ones I’ve had at tastings.
For a good value wine, try Fossil Fuel from The View winery. A blend of Pinotage and Baco Noir that is a bargain at $16.00. Great everyday wine.
Haha thanks for the comment and sorry for the late response! Funnily enough, around the same time you posted your comment, a colleague and I were talking about the Pinotage that the View makes and she urged me to give it a try. BC Pinotage is definitely one I need to explore just a tad more, but so far I notice that they seem to lack the bit of offensive medicinal ashiness I legitimately crave (and which others absolutely do not) in their South African counterparts 😉