2020 Olifantsberg Pinotage

Olifantsberg Family Vineyards is less than an hour's drive from Cape Town, in the middle of the South African wine region Breedekloof. This small five-hectare winery has been owned by the Dutch Leeuwerik family since 2003. The Olifantsberg vineyards are located on the slopes of the Brandwacht Mountains. Thanks to the high location and the almost constant blowing wind, there is a cool microclimate. Ideal conditions for the production of top quality grapes! The vineyard is worked with respect for nature. The vines are fertilized organically and the yield in the vineyard is deliberately kept low. All this with the aim of harvesting optimally ripe, healthy and concentrated grapes of high quality. After the manual harvest, these grapes are taken to the newly built vinification cellar. Here too, winemaker Elizma Visse lets nature do its work. After crushing the grapes, a traditional skin soaking follows and the grapes are fermented. After this they are aged in oak barrels of which about one third are renewed annually. The Olifantsberg wines are therefore perfectly balanced with beautifully dosed oak in smell and taste.

The philosophy behind this Pinotage from Olifantsberg is to make this unique South African variety where elegance and freshness should be of paramount importance and not the many overripe heavy and high alcohol pinotages as we unfortunately see too much with the mass producers. This Pinotage puts the grape in the center. The wine consists of 82.5% Pintotage and is supplemented with Cabernet Sauvignon to give it that little bit of extra complexity and bite. The wines have had an education of one year in 2000L oak foudres and 300L French oak barrels. The wine is harvested in clusters (so all specific places in a vineyard) and these are fermented and raised separately and only blended at bottling to get the Pinotage that Paul and Elizma want.

The wine is a beautiful dark red in the glass. This pinotage surprises both in the nose and the mouth. The wine is very fresh with nice fruit and not those rubbery and animalic notes that the masses of pinotages have. The pinotage is velvety like a Pinot Noir, cherry, mulberry and eucalyptus. The wine has fine-grained but ripe tannins and a little bitterness. The wine is excellent to drink but can also mature for another 7 years. It is also advisable to drink this pinotage slightly chilled (around 16 degrees).

Tim Atkin: 92/100