ON THE GRAPEVINE
FIONA McDONALD: From shame to fame: cheers to 100 years of pinotage
South Africa’s home-grown wine is winning new fans as it celebrates its centenary
24 April 2025 - 05:00
P is for … puny, precarious, patriotic, problematic, proud — and pinotage. And all of those words can be applied to South Africa’s home-grown grape. But there’s another P-word too: persistent.
In 1935, there were just four little seedlings left. That was the puny total of South African viticulturist and chemist Prof Izak Perold’s 1925 experiment in crossing pinot noir and hermitage, or cinsaut. (Get it? “Pinot” from pinot noir — plus the “tage” from hermitage.)..
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