Durbanville Hills Rhinofields 2013 Pinotage

The winery under founding Cellarmaster, Martin Moore has historically produced two ranges of wine, one under the Durbanville Hills Label and the other under Rhinofields Collection which tends to be more single vineyard wines, or at least vineyards which have an affinity with each other. Recently Martin released Tangram, the winery’s newest flagship – but that, as they say, is another story.

I must confess the being a huge Pinotage fan. This grape, like the protea, appears in many guises. From even white wines, through rosés, bubblies and fine red wines, all of which vary in style delicacy, breadth, depth and extract.

The Durbanville Hills Winery

The Durbanville Hills Rhinofields 2013 Pinotage, is one of those take a sip, sigh deeply and settle down to enjoy your glass. The Rhinofield wines are named for the ‘renosterveld’ an indigenous fynbos which grows in the member farms and also around the Durbanville Hills Winery. Made from a single, sunny, northwest facing vineyard on the farm Ongegund, the grapes are harvested in February and taken to the Durbanville Hills Winery where Cellarmaster Martin Moore and his red wine maker Wilhelm Coetzee and their team treat the grapes with what Martin refers to as our “soft hands approach.” Soft pump overs take place continuously to gently extract aromas, colour, flavours and tannins. Fermentation is almost over when they rack the wine off the skins and continue the malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Oak maturation took place in tight grained French oak barrels, a mix of first and second fill.

It looks like
Elegant Bordeaux shaped bottled with gold foiling and the classical oval label. In the glass a rich ruby plum at the core, which pales out to garnet at the edges.

It smells like
Berries, cherries and blueberries. There are vanilla and chocolat blanc notes.

It tastes like
Good medium bodied wine with a generosity of fruits, all the berries from the smells and the addition of ripe bloodplums. The oak and the soft tannins are perfectly integrated and supportive of the brilliant fruit.

It’s good with
This is a lovely glass on its own, perhaps after dinner watching the dying embers of the fire with a piece of snappy white chocolate. Nadia Graves, my friend in the Dordogne in France, crosses the Atlantic to give us this Spicy Brazilian chicken, chorizo & bean stew. Click here for her recipe.

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Posted July 22nd, 2016 in wine of the day
Tags: Tags: #SoundCloud, #wine, Durbanville Hills Winery, Nadia Graves, Pinotage,South African Wine