Pinotage

Pinotage is a crossing of Cinsaut and Pinot Noir, a pedigree confirmed by markers. VIVC records it under the prime name Pinotage, variety number 9286, with A. I. Perold as its breeder and South Africa as its likely country of origin. No offspring are recorded for Pinotage. WineWiki's VIVC-derived lineage data list Gamay, Schönburger and St. Laurent as half-siblings of Pinotage.

• Parents: Cinsaut and Pinot Noir (pedigree confirmed by markers)
• Prime name: Pinotage; variety number 9286; breeder A. I. Perold
• Country of origin: South Africa (likely, single source)
• Offspring: none recorded
• Half-siblings in VIVC-derived data: Gamay, Schönburger and St. Laurent

On 17 November 1924, Professor Abraham Izak Perold (d. 1941), Stellenbosch University's first professor of viticulture, crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut in his garden at Welgevallen Experimental Farm, smudging a male Hermitage flower with pollen from Pinot Noir. The experiment created four seeds, which he planted in the same garden in 1925. Cinsaut was then known in South Africa as Hermitage, a nod to its southern French roots. Perold left the university in 1927 for a position at KWV, and the young plants were rescued by Charlie Niehaus, a lecturer, who took them to CJ Theron's nursery at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute and then grafted plant material onto rootstocks at Welgevallen. From there it took a while longer for Pinotage to land in the bottle. The first commercial bottling was the 1959 Lanzerac, produced by Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery and not released until 1961; it was a blend from two Stellenbosch vineyards, Bellevue Estate, owned by Pieter Morkel, with vines planted in 1953, and Kanonkop, planted by Paul Sauer. The name Pinotage, decided upon by Perold and Niehaus at Welgevallen, is a contraction of the grapes that sired it, Pinot and Hermitage.

• 17 November 1924: Perold crosses Pinot Noir with Cinsaut (then called Hermitage) at Welgevallen Experimental Farm in Stellenbosch; the four seeds are planted in 1925.
• 1927: Perold leaves the university for KWV; lecturer Charlie Niehaus later grafts plant material onto rootstocks at Welgevallen.
• The 1953 Bellevue vineyard that supplied the first labelled Pinotage is still in use today.
• The first commercial bottling, the 1959 Lanzerac by Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery, was released in 1961 and won the trophy at the Cape Young Wine Show in 1959.

Pinotage can be made in a wide variety of styles, from light and medium-bodied reds all the way to rich, full-bodied, tannic wines built to age. Across styles the tell-tale characteristics are brambleberries, often a mix of red and black berries, medium to high acidity depending on where the grape is planted, and soft, round grape-derived tannins. Plum, cherry, blackberry and banana flavours are typical, and with oak cask maturation the wines can become smoky and spicy. Stylistically, the variety splits into two broad camps: the more traditional oaky versions and the lighter-bodied juicy reds styled as new wave. Winemaker Jolandie Fouche of Wolf & Woman describes new wave Pinotage as wines made with low intervention methods, with fruit purity and lower alcohol, aged in neutral vessels such as concrete, old oak barrels and amphora rather than new oak. Alcohol follows picking time: Decanter panel judge Victoria Mason found that Pinotage can be "picked early to ensure lower alcohol levels and superb freshness, or picked later at 14%-15% alcohol". In the 1970s a group of visiting British Masters of Wine gave the young variety a verdict that was not positive, with tasting notes of spray paint, burnt rubber and rusty nails; viticultural and cellar practices have improved since, though most growers still try to eliminate its characteristic burnt rubber character.

South Africa is Pinotage's home. The Pinotage Association gives the total area under Pinotage vines as 6 585 hectares in 2023, and Pinotage is the country's third most planted red grape. The majority is planted in the Swartland, closely followed by Paarl, then Stellenbosch. In Christian Eedes' assessment for Decanter, most of the top performers come from Stellenbosch, where the wines are typically rich and concentrated, showing black cherry, plum and blackcurrant fruit with firm tannins. Cooler, more maritime areas such as Walker Bay give a more red-fruited, medium-bodied style reminiscent of Pinot Noir. Outside South Africa, few countries have taken to the variety; Decanter's Rupert Millar reckons that more than 99% of plantings are South African.

• South Africa: third most planted red grape; the Swartland is the largest area, closely followed by Paarl, then Stellenbosch.
• Stellenbosch: home of Kanonkop, and of Beyerskloof in the Bottelary area; the wines are typically rich and concentrated, with firm tannins.
• Cooler, maritime areas such as Walker Bay: more red-fruited, medium-bodied wines reminiscent of Pinot Noir.
• Outside South Africa: only a smattering of vineyards around the world.

Modern Pinotage divides broadly into two style camps. At one pole, Pinotage can be plummy, structured and full-bodied, and capable of ageing; many of the classic Cape estates of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl lean towards this style, Kanonkop being a prime example. At the other, it can be bright and succulent, with sappy, crunchy red fruits. A chocolate and espresso style has its defenders too: Decanter judge Roger Jones argued that crowd-pleasers "should not be dismissed for highlighting the chocolate and espresso fruit-bomb style that so many consumers continue to seek out and enjoy". Pinotage is notorious for an acetone aroma, a by-product of fermentation that some detest as an intrusion of nail-varnish aromas. Bitter tannins are the other risk: the variety's thick skins make it prone to overextraction, and more careful extraction avoids excessive, bitter tannins.

• Traditional style: plummy, structured and full-bodied, capable of ageing; Kanonkop is a prime example.
• New wave style: lighter-bodied and juicy, bright and succulent with sappy, crunchy red fruits.
• Divisive or risky: an acetone aroma that some hail as the variety's footprint and others detest as nail varnish, and excessive, bitter tannins, which more careful extraction avoids.

Pinotage is a relatively low maintenance variety in the vineyard but very high maintenance in the winery. It can quickly become too ripe in sugar before it is physiologically ripe if there are no cooling influences or no guiding hand to curb this tendency. At Kanonkop, Beyers Truter radically changed the way Pinotage was treated in both the vineyard and the cellar, adopting Frans Malan's method of ageing it in new oak for 12 months. Kanonkop's cellar today uses open top concrete fermenters with manual punch-downs every two hours, Pinotage stays on its skins for three days, and the estate's wines go into French oak barrels for between 12 and 24 months, depending on the wine. Old bush vines help to curb the variety's overripeness, and once it was appreciated that its thick skins made it prone to overextraction, more gentle extraction methods were introduced prior to and during fermentation.

• Kanonkop under Beyers Truter: Pinotage aged in new oak for 12 months, following Frans Malan's method.
• Kanonkop cellar today: open top concrete fermenters, manual punch-downs every two hours, three days on the skins for Pinotage, 12 to 24 months in French oak depending on the wine.
• Old bush vines: they help curb overripeness; some of South Africa's oldest red wine vineyards are bush vine Pinotage, Bellevue's a prime example.
• Extraction: the thick skins make the variety prone to overextraction, so gentler extraction methods are now used.

Kanonkop, a Stellenbosch winery owned by Johann Krige, supplied part of the fruit for the first commercial Pinotage from vines planted by Paul Sauer. Kanonkop is a fourth-generation family estate, now in the hands of brothers Paul and Johann Krige. Pinotage was first planted there in 1941, and the first wines under the Kanonkop label were made in 1973. Beyers Truter became Kanonkop's third winemaker, a tenure that ran from 1981 to 2003, and Abrie Beeslaar has also served as winemaker there. Kanonkop's ultra-premium Black Label Pinotage 2006 was made from vines over half a century old and aged in 100% new French oak; only 1,000 bottles were released. During his Kanonkop years Truter also started his own Pinotage-focused estate, Beyerskloof, in the Bottelary area of Stellenbosch; its first vines were planted in 1988, and Diesel is its flagship Pinotage. The estate began at a small home farm off the Koelenhof road in Stellenbosch, bought in 1988; the first Beyerskloof Pinotage was bottled in 1995, and in 1997 another 100 hectares were bought in the Bottelary Winelands. Beyers' son Anri Truter is the winemaker today. L'Avenir in Stellenbosch makes a Single Block Pinotage, and Danie Steytler Snr was winemaker at Kaapzicht for over 40 years. Kaapzicht sits in Bottelary, where the Steytler family bought a farm then named Rozendal in 1946; the first Pinotage vineyard went in during 1959, and the wines have been bottled as Kaapzicht since 1984. Diemersfontein, in Wellington, has been home to the Sonnenberg family for three generations, and Diemersfontein describes its Original Pinotage as rich in flavours of coffee and chocolate. Lanzerac is an estate founded in 1692; late in the 1950s Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery bought its trademark and used that label for its pioneering 1959 Pinotage. Bellevue Estate's Pinotage vineyard, planted in 1953, is still in use today.

• Kanonkop (Simonsberg, Stellenbosch): owner Johann Krige; Beyers Truter winemaker 1981 to 2003; Black Label Pinotage and Estate Pinotage; Pinotage first planted there in 1941; first Kanonkop-label wines made in 1973.
• Beyerskloof (Bottelary, Stellenbosch): Beyers Truter's own estate, first vines planted 1988; Diesel is the flagship Pinotage; first Beyerskloof Pinotage bottled in 1995; winemaker Anri Truter.
• L'Avenir (Stellenbosch): Single Block Pinotage.
• Kaapzicht (Bottelary): Danie Steytler Snr was winemaker for over 40 years; Steytler family farm since 1946; first Pinotage vineyard planted 1959.
• Lanzerac (Stellenbosch): estate founded 1692; its label carried the first commercial Pinotage (1959 vintage, released 1961).
• Bellevue Estate (Stellenbosch): Pieter Morkel's 1953 vineyard supplied the first commercial Pinotage and is still in use today.
• Diemersfontein (Wellington): home of the Sonnenberg family for three generations; it describes its Original Pinotage as rich in flavours of coffee and chocolate.

Pinotage is South Africa's indigenous variety, unique to the country. It has had a chequered history. In the 1970s visiting British Masters of Wine gave it a verdict that was not positive. Beyers Truter's 1991 Robert Mondavi Trophy for International Winemaker of the Year, won for the 1989 Kanonkop Pinotage, was in WSET's words "the instant boost Pinotage needed". The Pinotage Association, a producer-driven body formed in 1995 to promote and advance the variety, launched the Top 10 Pinotage competition in 1997, which has done much to increase public awareness. Absa is the Association's sponsor, and its competitions include the Absa Top 10 Pinotage and the Perold Absa Cape Blend. Pinotage celebrated its centenary in 2024. Decanter's Rupert Millar finds that it continues to carry its stigma among many critics, yet wines from the very best producers are an increasingly common sight in independent merchants and, on occasion, fine wine merchants.

• South Africa's indigenous variety, created at Welgevallen Experimental Farm in Stellenbosch in 1924.
• Reputation: from the 1970s British MW verdict of spray paint and burnt rubber to the 1991 Robert Mondavi Trophy for Beyers Truter's 1989 Kanonkop Pinotage.
• Institutions: the Pinotage Association (formed 1995) and its Top 10 Pinotage competition (launched 1997).
• Stylistic range: from bottle-fermented examples and berry-forward rosés to light reds and rich, full-bodied, tannic wines built to age.
• Centenary in 2024, a hundred years after Perold's 1924 crossing.

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=9286 ; https://www.vivc.de/index.php?var=9286&r=eva-analysis-mikrosatelliten-abstammungen%2Findex ; https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2024/polarising-pinotage-the-famous-south-african-grape-re-examined Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/red/pinotage ; https://www.decanter.com/wine/grape-varieties/pinotage/ ; https://www.decanter.com/premium/100-years-of-pinotage-south-africas-homegrown-grape-comes-good-540906/ ; https://www.decanter.com/wine/wine-regions/south-african-wine/revisiting-south-africa-s-pinotage-246230/ ; https://www.decanter.com/premium/south-african-pinotage-panel-tasting-results-471719/ ; https://www.decanter.com/learn/wine-legend-lanzerac-pinotage-1959-432084/ Producer and association sources (own sites): https://kanonkop.co.za/our-story/ ; https://kanonkop.co.za/winemaking/ ; https://kanonkop.co.za/wines/estate-range/ ; https://beyerskloof.co.za/our-story/ ; https://www.diemersfontein.co.za/ ; https://kaapzicht.co.za/about/history/ ; https://www.pinotage.co.za/ ; https://pinotage.co.za/ ; https://pinotage.co.za/about/cultivation/ Last verified 2026-10-27