WTN: 2003 Beaumont Pinotage (Walker Bay, SA)
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:45 pm
14% alc. Deep, dark black-cherry colour. Proper nose of leather and cherry, a bit liquorous perhaps. Big New World style entry, with up-front fruit, a warm mid-palate and a somewhat off-dry finish. There are very few edges in this Pinotage. Personally I like a bit of leather, a bit of wild strawberry, some banana esters - none of these qualities were really there. However, a tiny bit of aft-palate bitterness did show up, saving the day. It's obviously well-made Pinotage, but in a somewhat different style this time around than what I most love about the variety.
And now, a digression ...
Some time back (quite a few years ago, actually) I posted a few requests to WLDGers to inform me of any wineries making old-style Pinotage these days. I renew my plea today: Please, if any of you tries a Pinotage that's truly old-style, do let me know - I would be most interested in procuring it. (Note: By "old-style" I'm thinking of the pre-Internationalization style of Pinotage that caused such an uproar; Pinotage that had edges, and lots of them. Some felt that the wines were flawed, but I never felt this way because none of them were ever vinegary or overtly volatile; they just had this sort of dour, bitter leatheriness about them.) I really liked those old ones. In the good old days, you could still buy Oude Libertas Pinotage at the LCBO - on general list, no less! - for a mere $7.95! It was bitter and leathery and had lots of plum/wild-strawberries on the nose. I loved it.
And now, a digression ...
Some time back (quite a few years ago, actually) I posted a few requests to WLDGers to inform me of any wineries making old-style Pinotage these days. I renew my plea today: Please, if any of you tries a Pinotage that's truly old-style, do let me know - I would be most interested in procuring it. (Note: By "old-style" I'm thinking of the pre-Internationalization style of Pinotage that caused such an uproar; Pinotage that had edges, and lots of them. Some felt that the wines were flawed, but I never felt this way because none of them were ever vinegary or overtly volatile; they just had this sort of dour, bitter leatheriness about them.) I really liked those old ones. In the good old days, you could still buy Oude Libertas Pinotage at the LCBO - on general list, no less! - for a mere $7.95! It was bitter and leathery and had lots of plum/wild-strawberries on the nose. I loved it.