Pinotage has spent decades trying to prove it can be powerful.
Alex Milner wondered whether it should instead be graceful.
After all, Pinotage is the child of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, two naturally lighter, more aromatic grapes. So why make it like Cabernet Sauvignon?
His answer is NAT.
Light on its feet, fragrant, savoury and quietly addictive, it’s one of the most convincing expressions of the new wave of South African Pinotage we’ve tasted.
Tim Atkin MW awarded it 93 points. Tamlyn Currin called it “a riddle of cherry sweetness, cola cuteness and bit-lip bitterness.”
Better still, at £19.99, it’s one of the easiest bottles in our range to recommend.
93 Points – Tim Atkin MW | 17 Points – Jancis Robinson MW
“”Why make Pinotage like a Cabernet Sauvignon?”, asks Alex Milner. Why indeed? This engagingly scented example hails from a bush-vine parcel planted in 1997 on decomposed granite and is sappy, refreshing and light-bodied, with good underlying concentration, negligible oak and strawberry and red cherry fruit.” – Tim Atkin MW.
“There is a tiny necklet of bubbles at the top of the bottle, and you can feel the hint of effervescence in your mouth. Not pet-nat, but subversively, wickedly close. If you love negroni, liquorice, vermut rojo, bresaola, dill, and cumin seeds in everything, you will, like me, love this wine. It’s a riddle of cherry sweetness, cola cuteness and bit-lip bitterness. It tastes like a love bite. Chill it, a lot, or a little.” – Tamlyn Currin.
