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New ZealandFlavors · Stellenbosch
Pinotage red wine, a grape variety created in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsaut (which in the Cape was called Hermitage). It has a dark color, aromas of red and dark fruits, and soft tannins.
Traditional drink from Stellenbosch, Cabo Ocidental
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Pinotage — Stellenbosch, South Africa
Pinotage is a red grape variety created in South Africa. Professor Abraham Izak Perold, the first professor of viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch, hand-pollinated a Cinsaut flower with pollen from Pinot Noir at the university’s Welgevallen experimental farm. In the Cape, Cinsaut was called Hermitage, and the joining of the two names produced Pinotage. The cross was made at the end of 1924, and the four seeds were planted in 1925, a year commonly taken as the grape’s birth.
The story involved a bit of chance. Perold left the university soon after, the young vines were forgotten in the garden and were only rescued by a young lecturer, Charlie Niehaus, when the area was about to be cleared. The plants were grafted at Welgevallen, and the first Pinotage wine was made in Elsenburg, also in Stellenbosch, in 1941. The name appeared on a label for the first time with the 1959 vintage, released in 1961.
The variety is planted in several regions of the Western Cape, especially in Swartland, Paarl and Stellenbosch, and is among the country’s most widely grown red grapes. The University of Stellenbosch still maintains old Pinotage vines at Welgevallen and produces wine from them in its own cellar.
The wine ranges from rosé and sparkling to light and full-bodied reds aged in wood. Common aromas are blackberry, plum, cherry, spices and sometimes florals; acidity is medium to high and tannins are soft. Pinotage is also the base of the so-called Cape Blend, South African red blends. On the Stellenbosch wine routes, many wineries offer tastings.
Stellenbosch , Cabo Ocidental
The grape was created at the Welgevallen experimental farm of the University of Stellenbosch, where the first vines were planted in 1925.
Pinotage grapes, a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut.
In a glass, as a table red; the fuller styles pair with grilled meats on the braai, stews and spiced dishes. There are also rosé and sparkling versions, served chilled.
All year round.
Your questions
Professor Abraham Izak Perold, of the University of Stellenbosch, who crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut at the Welgevallen experimental farm. The seeds were planted in 1925.
Because it combines Pinot, from Pinot Noir, and Hermitage, the name Cinsaut had in the Cape at that time.
Generally red, with a dark color, aromas of blackberry, plum, cherry and spices, medium to high acidity and soft tannins. There are also rosé, sparkling and lighter versions.
Mainly in the Western Cape, in the Swartland, Paarl and Stellenbosch regions, where the variety was created.
Flavors of South Africa
Stew of mutton or lamb with waterblommetjie flowers, an aquatic plant native to the Western Cape, onion, potato and sorrel. It is a winter dish, made in the short season when the flowers are harvested from the province's lakes and marshes.
Cracked white maize (samp) slow-cooked with beans until creamy, seasoned with onion and butter or fat. It is the everyday dish of the Xhosa of the Eastern Cape and was Nelson Mandela's favorite.
Minced meat seasoned with curry and spices, mixed with bread soaked in milk and dried fruit and baked under a milk-and-egg topping. It is a well-known dish of Cape Malay cuisine from Cape Town, served with yellow rice and chutney.
A long roll filled with fries, meat, fish, or chicken, salad and sauce, cut into pieces for sharing. It originated in a fried-fish shop in Athlone, in the Cape Flats, and is Cape Town’s sandwich.
Fried dumpling with a soft dough, seasoned with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, fennel and tangerine peel, dipped in hot syrup and coated in coconut. It is the Sunday breakfast of Cape Malay families in Cape Town.
A hot amber-colored beverage made from the oxidized leaves of a shrub that only grows in the Cederberg mountains and surrounding areas. Clanwilliam, at the foot of the range, is the center of cultivation and processing, and the name rooibos has a protected geographical indication.
Curry served inside a sliced loaf of white bread cut into a quarter or half and hollowed out, with the removed crumb placed on top. Created by Durban’s community of Indian origin, it’s the dish the city uses to introduce itself.
A quarter loaf of sliced white bread hollowed out and layered with fillings: fries, sausages, mortadella, a burger, cheese, achar and sauces. It’s the street food of Johannesburg’s townships, like Soweto, and of the whole Gauteng province.
Homemade fermented drink made from the juice of marula fruits, from January to March. In Limpopo, the season opens with the festival of the first fruits, and Phalaborwa hosts the annual marula festival where the drink made by local cooperatives is served.
