D. Pinotage
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
If I am deciphering your question accurately, I believe you are asking about the Pinotage grape, developed in South Africa as a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (called Hermitage locally) in the 1920s. We tend to associate Pinotage with the Cape although Chenin Blanc - or Steen - is in fact the country's most planted variety. Here and there around the world, there are very limited plantings of Pinotage with varying results. Pinotage as a wine in South Africa has had a mixed history, and it is only recently that winemakers seem to have mastered its somewhat odd, vaguely "chemical" aroma. However, the variety's peculiar originality still limits its appeal. The best contemporary examples have a deep color and generous dark fruit, and they are enhanced by aging in small oak barrels. Most are enjoyable quite young - within a few years of release - but a few led by Kanonkop have shown they can develop in bottle over a decade and longer. If you are tired of the usual Cab or Shiraz, Pinotage does certainly offer a change of pace.
