Full Review

Indwe

Indwe
2020 Pinotage, Swartland

Pair this wine with:
Lamb Pork

Category: Pinotage

Date Tasted:
Country: South Africa
Alcohol: 13.5%
88 Points
Silver Medal
Highly Recommended
$15
Best Buy

Indwe
2020 Pinotage, Swartland

Pair this wine with:
Lamb Pork

Category: Pinotage

Date Tasted:
Country: South Africa
Alcohol: 13.5%
Dark violet color. Aromas of black plum, black raspberry, leather, rooibos tea, black olive, fruit leather, and vanilla with a satiny, crisp, dry light-to-medium body and a tingling, interesting, medium-long olive, beets, clove, and thyme finish with well-integrated, fine, chewy tannins and a suggestion of oak flavor. A bright, food friendly wine with complex savory and fruit flavors; try with otherwise hard to pair game dishes.

Tasting Info

Wine Glass Style: Savory & Fruity
Aroma Aroma: black plum, black raspberry, leather, rooibos tea, black olive, fruit leather,, and vanilla
Taste Flavor: olive, beets, clove, and thyme
Sweetness Sweetness: Dry
Enjoy Enjoy: Now on its own and with food
Recipes Pairing: Peking Duck, Lamb Tagine, Souvlaki
Bottom Line Bottom Line: A bright, food friendly wine with complex savory and fruit flavors; try with otherwise hard to pair game dishes.

The Producer or Importer

Kysela Pere Et Fils, Ltd.

The Producer or  Importer
331 Victory Rd
Winchester, VA 22602
USA
1 540-722-9228

Their Portfolio

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Pinotage

Wine Glass Zinfandel.jpg
Serve in a Zinfandel Wine Glass
Pinotage is the signature red variety of South Africa; it was developed there in 1925 as a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. The wines made from Pinotage are quite ripe, with flavors of wild cherry and blueberry and have a bit of a wild streak to them with aggressive tannins. Most are reasonable priced from $10-$15 and are thus meant for consumption within three to five years. Pair these wines with stews, duck, roast pork or tangy cheeses.

There are also a few producers of Pinotage in the US as well as New Zealand.

Though thought of as distinctly New World, South Africa's wine industry is actually over 300 years old. With recent governmental changes, South Africa has left its long period of international isolation. Wine drinkers in the US are beginning to see more and more of the fabled "Cape" wines on the domestic market. These wines actually share more in common with Old World styles than with their New World counterparts.

Produced in a cooler climate with a distinct maritime influence, South African wines are generally a couple of degrees lower in alcohol than those from Australia or California, and have higher levels of acidity with relatively firm structures. All in all, the national style shares much in common with that of France. Balance and moderation are the buzzwords, making these wines exceptionally friendly at the table. South African wines do have some unique signatures, however. Fans note a distinctive minerally flavor, present particularly in the reds, that we usually described as tar-like.

This nuance can often be found in pinotage, a wine unique to the area. A cross between pinot noir and cinsault (an obscure grape from the south of France) pinotage is a lighter- to mid-weight red with lots of character. It is one of the few wines in the world that, when fully ripe, smells like blueberries! Blueberries and tar or not, South Africa produces a range of distinctive wines to tempt the adventurous.