The day South African wine changed forever
Words by Clifford Roberts
November 17, a hundred years ago, was a Monday. Among the very few likely to relish its arrival, was a scientist in Stellenbosch for whom the day would be monumental, and for South African wine too. It was on this date that two French varieties were fused, giving rise to Pinotage.
The story of Pinotage and how it was developed in South Africa is well known. Whether the official 100th anniversary is this year, at the time Prof Abraham Perold first embarked on his experiment in the field, or next year, when it was discovered that the experiment had been a success, has been a point of enthusiastic debate.
Either way, this was happening in an era primarily known for the economic boom that occurred in the Western World following the end of World War 1. It was the time of silent films and Charles Lindbegh’s famous solo flight across the Atlantic. In South Africa, however, the economy of the union had stagnated somewhat. Women didn’t have the right to vote, yet.
The local wine industry was regaining some control of overproduction thanks to the formation of the KWV, a legislated co-operative back then. At the time, the seeds of another powerhouse and important player in the Pinotage story, Stellenbosch Farmers Winery were also being sown.
It was towards the end of 1924 that Professor Perold of the University of Stellenbosch cross-pollinated Pinot Noir of Burgundy with Cinsault of the Rhone (known as Hermitage in the Cape). The young vines that resulted from that cross were planted the following year.
Fast forward to 2024 and a world in which Pinotage has spread its wings even to major wine centres like New Zealand, the UK and America, and won international acclaim.
“As we sit here, we’re immensely proud and still excited about forthcoming vintage of Pinotage,” declared Kaapzicht winemaker Danie Steytler at a gathering a few weeks ago, of some of the cultivar’s biggest champions.
Alongside him at the Woordfees wine tasting was Johan Jordaan of Spier, Nicholas Husselman of Koelenhof, Abri Beeslaar of Beeslaar Wines, Beyers Truter and his son, Anri of Beyerskloof, and Wynand Lategan of Lanzerac.
It was under the Lanzerac label that the first Pintoage was bottled. “ In the late 50s, Lanzerac was owned by the Rawdon Family of hoteliers,” Wynand recounted.
At the time, many farms supplied fruit and wine to Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW), including Bellevue. The Lanzerac wine brand was owned at the time by SFW, which chose to bottle the wine under this label.
“It was PK Morkel of Bellevue’s wine under the Lanzerac label that went on to win the [SA Young Wine Show’s] General Smuts Trophy, and everyone loved it,” says Wynand. Orders for vines started flooding in.
The original Pinotage vineyard, planted in 1953, still exists and lives on in wines produced both at Lanzerac and Bellevue. “For us, it’s important to be able to tell the story of the wine. There are very few places in the world able to tell the story of a cultivar and where it all started,” Wynand said.
The crossing itself was undertaken at Welgevallen, the experimental farm – then 278ha – acquired by the university in 1917 and at the founding of the Faculty of Agrisciences.
The Stellenbosch Institute For Advanced Study (STIAS), which has a vineyard dedicated to Perold, makes an important point about those early days. “With modern techniques of propagating plant material, it is difficult to appreciate the time needed for his original experiments.
“The task required endless patience and precision. The flowers of the Cinsault grapes had to be pollinated with the pollen of the Pinot Noir parent at exactly the right time. These bunches then had to be covered individually to protect them from any unwanted pollen. The pips of the ripe fruit then had to be planted and carefully nurtured. The best specimens were selected to plant as vines which hopefully would produce an interesting wine of high quality – leading to the next round of selection and experimentation.”
Sadly, Abraham Perold never tasted Pinotage before his death in 1941. In fact, he may not have been very encouraged by the first result of his work: only four seedlings arose from the cross, so he planted them in his own garden at Welgevallen. Soon after, he was appointed to at KWV and the seedlings and garden were left to fend for themselves among the weeds of overgrowth.
By chance, however, they were saved from the spades of gardeners commissioned to clean up the property some time later when the vines were noticed. The seedlings were re-established in the nursery at Elsenburg by Professor C. J. Theron who, in 1935, grafted them on Richter rootstock.
Theron showed the four grafted vines to Perold who would have been overjoyed. A mother block is said to have been established at Myrtle Grove, a farm at Sir Lowry’s Pass near Somerset West.
Reflecting on the evolution of the wine, Johan Jordaan described a young Pinotage like “your first kiss”. “Lots of fruit and it gives you all, but then it keeps on giving over the years. Pinotage has real staying power,” he said.
“’Pinotage is the juice extracted from women’s tongues and lion’s hearts’,” said Pinotage Association founder Beyers Truter, who took the cultivar to new heights in 1991 by winning the Robert Mondavi Trophy for International Winemaker of the Year . “’After having sufficient quantity, one can talk forever and fight the devil!’”
