Wine of the week: two simply perfect pinotages

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published 26 November 2021

2018 Beeslaar, Pinotage, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£38, The Wine Society, 01438-741177, thewinesociety.com

Abrie Beeslaar made this magnificent wine from 25-year-old bush vines, and it was fermented in concrete tanks with regular punch-downs to gain as much extraction from the powerful pinotage skins as possible. It was then aged for 21 months in 40% new French oak barriques. There is nothing particularly unusual about this recipe, so why is this the most attractive pinotage I have ever tasted? It is extraordinarily expressive with silky black fruit and a hugely decadent mid-palate that runs on for minutes and then segues into a stunning, savoury, spicy, earthy finish. There is no pelt, burning rubber or pox of any kind – it is clean, fresh and structured and has more layers than a millefeuille.

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All too often, South Africa’s most important local grape has a certain sort of funkiness which turns me off completely. Beeslaar has nothing but pristine, gloriously appointed, velvety fruit – it is shaped like a super Tuscan, built like a Cape(d) crusader and I know everyone who feels like me about this tricky grape will go nuts about this wine. Well done, Abrie – you are a veritable magician.

If you would like to dip your toe into the pinotage grape at a lower price point, may I direct you to the 2020 Radford Dale, Vinum Pinotage (£11.50, The Wine Society) – another squeaky-clean red with exquisite, deep, dark fruit and lashings of cocoa. Jo Locke MW, The Wine Society’s South African buyer, has done the impossible and found not one but two perfect pinotages this year!This the most attractive pinotage I have ever tasted, – clean, fresh and structured and with more layers than a millefeuille.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

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Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.