WTN: 2003 Kleine Zalze Pinotage (Stellenbosch, SA)

What an amazing wine. I can't recall what I paid for it at Vintages, but I am surely going back and buying several more bottles. I served this wine alongside my curried goat stew this past weekend and the wine went so fast (as did the goat) that I was blown away by how my guests enjoyed the combination. Truth be told, it was a wholly haphazard combination; the Goats do Roam in Villages that I had intended to serve with the goat curry - and which I did open afterwards - was surprisingly thin and uninteresting by comparison.

14% alc. Deep, dark ruby-garnet colour; great saturation, and nearly opaque. Immense nose of leather and cured meat; this is Pinotage in all its smoky coal-fired rustic glory. Absolutely gorgeous, ripe nose with delicious strawberry fruit wrapped in a massive leather glove. I love this - it is quintessential Pinotage for me. Excellent balance on the palate, with a warm and opulent texture and practically no alcoholic heat at all - just a warm, ripe, enveloping warmth. Properly astringent, but again, not in a rough way. Long, leathery/wild-strawberry finish. Amazing stuff.

I can't recall having a Pinotage that I have enjoyed as much as this one, not in the last two years anyway. No question I'm going back for more of this beauty and that I'll be firing off a letter of praise to the winery.

Great it is good to read praise of a varietal I much admire.
By the way,have you tried this wineries Bush vine Chenin. It is absolutely brilliant and very cheap--at least out here!!

Keith, I'm happy to hear that you are a fan of Pinotage too. While the world revels in Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz, etc., I truly find my best red vinifera experiences with a good, rustic, full-personality Pinotage. There's so much going on in the nose of a Pinotage that's so different from the run-of-the-mill types that I took to it from the very beginning.

The Kleine Zalze is really great since it has so much character.

I am keen to taste a really good Pinotage but go numb when faced with the entry level efforts over here in Alberta. There may be a good one in there but who knows?? Following the UK wine forum, there have been many recs but that is their side of the pond! Keith is the master of Pinotage in my book, guess travel plans in the future?!!!
Here, on this forum, it would be interesting to find out what is out there in N America and sign up some intrepid tasters....Hello Bill, Bob H, Bob R.

Bob, I don't know if you get this one in Alberta - we had it for many years at the LCBO but then it was dropped for some unknown reason. Zonnebloem - this was a great Pinotage for only $13 here in Ontario. Although it was not an inky or extracted wine, it always had excellent structure - the back label suggested a cellar time of 10-15 years. This was phenomenal for such an inexpensive wine, but of course it was well made. It wasn't a beginner or newbie kind of Pinotage, though; it was very tannic and full of leathery/strawberry fruit (which I love). Most of the cheap replacements that followed it are very, very poor by comparison, being sweet and having no character to speak of. I'm sure they're selling great ...