At Lanzerac, Pinotage is a story written in bold flavours, rich heritage and an undeniable South African spirit. As the proud home of the world’s first commercially bottled Pinotage, we carry forward a legacy that began here, in the heart of the winelands. In celebration of this icon’s centenary, a look at Lanzerac’s Pinotage heritage seems the ideal point of departure.
Stemming from a quest to create the ideal South African variety, Professor Abraham Isak Perold, scoured the grape varieties of the world. His journey led to him eventually marrying the proverbial “Prince and the Pauper”, Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (known as Hermitage back in the day). The strange combination of these two varietals that generally delivers lighter coloured wines, resulted in grapes that ripened early, achieved ripeness easily enough while maintaining growth vigour throughout and attained a colour that was much more intense and deeper. The name Pinotage was the obvious choice for this new-born.
He planted a few seeds in his back garden at his university house in Welgevallen. His friend and successor at the University had his garden cleaned up after he left to KWV and the Pinotage plants that came up were nearly cleared with the rest of the shrubbery! The plants only just made it safely in the hands of Prof. Charl Theron de Waal to Elsenburg Agricultural College where they were further cultivated. Prof De Waal later made the first bottle Pinotage in 1941.
In 1953 P.K. Morkel wanted to plant a new block of Gamay noir, but unfortunately (some would say fortunately), he could not find supply of young Gamay grafting’s. He was recommended to plant this unknown, locally crossed Pinotage as the experimental wines from this varietal showed exceptional fragrance, a deep colour yet firm tannins and flourished in even sandy soils. In 1959 P.K. Morkel entered this risky project in the South African Young Wine Show, and the rest is history. This vintage was released in 1961 under the Lanzerac label by SFW.
The legacy of this grape is continued throughout Lanzerac’s Pinotage repertoire. The Lanzerac Commemorative Pinotage. Made from the same 72-year-old Bellevue vineyard as the original 1959 Pinotage, it’s the perfect celebration of this landmark wine history.
Alongside stands the Jonkershoek Pinotage, an ode to ever progressing winemaking techniques. Incorporating new world winemaking techniques, and the ancient Jonkershoek soils, the Jonkershoek boldly looks towards Pinotage’s future.
But where would we be without Pinotage’s “father”? To honour the vision of Professor Perold, the Pionier Pinotage honours the pioneering spirit of both man and grape. A bold expression of a single vineyard located in the heart of Jonkershoek, the Pionier Pinotage is Lanzerac’s thank you to the remarkable people in Pinotage’s first 100 years, and a look towards the next centenary.
