Frankenstein Pinotage

We recommend pairing with grilled, or braised meats, like slow-cooked sausages, beef, and lamb.

Founded in 1998 by Alex Dale, Radford Dale set about the Cape in search of exciting vineyard parcels for their chosen specialist varietals. Today, they have two producing wineries. The first is located in Stellenbosch, predominantly focused on sourcing maritime influenced parcels around the Helderberg and Polkadraai. Here, they produce the cult, single vineyard wines of Renaissance Chenin Blanc and Frankenstein Pinotage, and the Radford Dale Vinum range; a set of six wines that consistently overdeliver on style to price. The 2022 vintage marked the maiden release from their own vineyards purchased in Elgin under Radford Dale Organic, with the release of four single varietal Estate wines, the only organic certified vineyards in the region. More recently, they have co-founded South Africa’s first Organic Wine Association. They continue to reintroduce Gamay Noir to the Cape, establishing the first new plantings for some 20 years. It’s a varietal geared up to thrive in warm conditions, and on granite soils. Stylistically, Gamay also embodies Radford Dale’s championing of elegant, refreshing red wines.

The old bush vines that make this individualistic Pinotage are rooted in unusual white clay at the foot of the Helderberg Mountain. Unirrigated, these vines plunge their roots deep into the earth in search of moisture to sustain the ripening of grapes into the long dry summers of the Cape. In 2023 this vineyard turned 34 years old and as such the crop is small, but wonderfully concentrated which allows for early picking.

Only large format (500L and 600L) barrels were employed to mature the wine. The focus being to retain the wonderfully expressive, pure fruit while allowing for enhanced texture. Also, no new oak was used in order for the fruit to shine.

The grapes were hand picked into small 20kg lug boxes and then hand sorted as with all Radford Dale grapes. A combination of whole bunch and whole berry fermentation took place in a 7000L oak vessel. This meant that during the fermentation a partial carbonic fermentation took place which helped to enhance the pure fruited nature of the wine, while ensuring a limited extraction of tannins.The wine was then lightly basket pressed and transferred by gravity to barrel for maturation. A particular focus during the vinification of this wine was to employ the most gentle, most traditional of techniques from harvesting to bottling.