Ripe red grapes among green vine leaves

Grape variety · Red

Pinotage

A trial garden at Stellenbosch University in the mid-1920s. A professor crosses Pinot Noir with Cinsaut, sows the seeds and moves on. Almost nothing came of it.

The seedlings were still in the Welgevallen trial garden when Abraham Izak Perold left for the KWV in 1928. Nobody looked after them. Dr Charlie Niehaus rescued the plants and took them to Elsenburg. Perold had crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut in 1925, a grape the Cape then called Hermitage. Elsenburg made the first wine in 1941, and the first commercial planting was at Myrtle Grove near Sir Lowry's Pass. In 1959 a Bellevue Pinotage won the General Smuts Trophy, and in 1961 the first bottle with Pinotage on the label went on sale under the Lanzerac brand.

of South Africa's vineyards, SAWIS, as of 31 December 2025
7.6%
of Pinotage nationwide
6,619 ha
crossed by Perold in Stellenbosch
1925
in the Paarl statistical region with Franschhoek and Wellington
1,271 ha

SAWIS counts 6,619 hectares of Pinotage in South Africa at the end of 2025, 7.6 per cent of the vineyard area. Among the major grapes, Pinotage is the only one whose share is edging up: in 2018 it was 7.3 per cent. Wikipedia describes the style as smoky, bramble and earthy, sometimes with banana or tropical fruit; winemakers try to avoid the paint-like notes of isoamyl acetate. According to WOSA, Pinotage can be made to drink young or to age. In a Cape Blend it makes up 30 to 70 per cent of the wine, and from the 2019 vintage it is meant to be the main component. None of this is written into law.

The largest plantings are in the Swartland with 1,275 hectares, just ahead of the Paarl statistical region with Franschhoek and Wellington (1,271), then Stellenbosch (1,030), Breedekloof (921) and Robertson (894). Kanonkop on the Simonsberg calls itself the Pioneers of Pinotage. Diemersfontein in Wellington is behind Coffee Pinotage, a style with coffee and chocolate notes that goes back to the estate's 2001 vintage; the estate calls it an accidental birth. Du Toitskloof near Rawsonville bottles a Granite Pinotage, and Viljoensdrift on the Breede makes one too. Spier suggests slow-cooked lamb with its flagship Pinotage.

Our tipTaste Pinotage at two estates that go about it differently. Kanonkop on the Simonsberg has a tasting room but, in its own words, no restaurant and no food pairings. For the coffee style go to Diemersfontein in Wellington, where groups of eight or more must book (both as of September 2026).

Pinotage to order

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Pinotage: frequently asked questions

Who created Pinotage?

Pinotage was created by Professor Abraham Izak Perold, who crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut at Stellenbosch University in 1925. The first wine from the grape was made at Elsenburg in 1941.

What is a Cape Blend?

A Cape Blend, as Wines of South Africa defines it, is a red blend with 30 to 70 per cent Pinotage, and from the 2019 vintage Pinotage is meant to be the largest part. The term is not regulated by law.

What is Coffee Pinotage?

Coffee Pinotage is a style of Pinotage with coffee and chocolate notes. It goes back to the 2001 vintage of Diemersfontein in Wellington.