South Africa Guide

Famous red wines of South Africa

admin April 21st, 2009 0 Comments

Famous South African red wines owe their worldwide reputation to a great variety of vineyards throughout South Africa growing some of the best grapes varieties.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Most of the great red wines of Bordeaux and some of the finest wines of the New World including South Africa are based on Cabernet Sauvignon. This grapes variety is often blended with Cabernet Franc and Merlot and its flavor is reminiscent of blackcurrants or cedar wood. It requires aging in small oak barrels, and the best wines require several years of bottle age to reach their peak.

Cabernet Franc
This grapes variety possesses qualities similar to those of Cabernet Sauvignon, although they are a little less pronounced in Cabernet Franc. It is an important part of South African Cape blends and is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cinsaut
Formerly known as Hermitage in the Western Cape of South Africa, it produces light wines and is most often used as a blending wine to increase accessibility at an early age. Cinsaut is one of the parents of Pinotage.

Merlot
This variety takes second place to Cabernet Sauvignon in most premium red wine blends. Merlot is fragrant and usually softer than Cabernet Sauvignon. It also shows best with oak maturation, but usually requires less bottle maturation before it is ready to drink. Some believe that the growing conditions in South Africa do not require Merlot to be blended in with Cabernet. Merlot bottled as a varietal is becoming more and more commonplace in South Africa.

Pinotage
It is a unique South African grape made from a cross of pinot noir and cinsaut. It was developed locally in 1926. It is hardy in the vineyard and generally produces a wine that is full bodied with good fruit flavours and a distinctive spiciness, but often referred to as possessing a “sweetish acetone” flavor. Previously thought to be early maturing, it is now believed that pinotage benefits from extended maturation.

Pinot noir
The grape from which complex and elegant wines are made in Burgundy There are several new vineyards in South Africa making pinot noir that show great promise. The Pinot Noir wines in South Africa are clean and lively with the flavor of ripe cherries.

Shiraz
This grape is also known as Syrah. It makes a soft and rich wine often characterized by smoky and chocolaty aromas. It matures faster than cabernet and is sometimes blended with it to speed accessibility.

Zinfandel
This variety probably originated in Southern Italy as the Primitivo grape. It is planted by only a few Cape wineries, and the first examples have been very good, especially when they receive enough oak maturation.