Amandelboord Pinotage

Pinotage loves meat, especially if it has a a smokey element to it such as barbequed sticky pork ribs. For vegetarians, large brown mushroom steaks topped with aged cheddar will be ideal. Also opt for beef or pork with teriyaki sauce, and enjoy Pinotage with a dark chocolate truffle tart for dessert.

Currently, in their fourth generation, the Graaff’s can be attributed many successes, including supplying electricity to the city of Cape Town for the first time, building the biggest refrigeration company in the early 1900s called Imperial Cold Storage, the 1st Baronet was even the mayor of Cape Town at the age of 32. Today they are a progressive bunch with a focus on education and empowerment. The wine and their seat overlooking the whole of Cape Town speaks for itself. We invite you to get acquainted.

During 2021, a late winter and spring lead to a late harvest season in 2022 with 3 small compact heat waves in January. Above average crop, quality and quantity wise. The Pinotage vineyards are planted in well drained blue, broken shale at 250 metres above sea level on the Western slope of the Tygerberg 7 kilometres from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. Employing the VSP trellis system, a typical harvest produces 7 to 8 tons per hectare.

On completion of MLF, the wine was racked and transferred to 225 litre barrels to mature for 12 months in a combination of French and American Oak of which 12% was new oak.

Grapes were hand-picked just before dawn, then crushed and open-fermented while undergoing pneumatic punchdowns four times a day. The wine was basket-pressed and transferred to tanks for malolactic fermentation.