This is the first appearance in Ontario of a varietal Pinotage from Fairview (a Charles Back winery) - at least I've never seen one before, and I'm always on the lookout for Pinotage. The wine pours a gorgeous dark mulberry colour, but shows an intense, dark ruby through the glass. Plenty of legs with the slightest swirl. Some viscosity is evident in the texture. Wonderful mulberry/strawberry nose with a bit of leather backing it all up. Some oak spice in the background. Full, grippy tannins on the entry, with a warm, expansive, serious structure. It got even better after an hour in the open bottle, showing impeccable structure, warmth, and balance. Very much a "steak wine", this would go really well - as would any decent Pinotage - with beefsteaks grilled over hardwood. I love the leathery hint in the finish. I was also pleasantly surprised to find, lingering in the finish, some of those bitter-black-table-grape-pit tannins that I enjoy - though these modern Pinotages are so cleaned up that most people would probably not even notice it
Definitely a buy-again wine.