The Wine South Africa Invented That the World Almost Refused to Drink

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In 1925, a professor at Stellenbosch University crossed two grape varieties and created something the wine world had never tasted. He named it pinotage. Then he left for another job, forgot the seedlings, and very nearly let his invention die.

That pinotage exists at all is an accident of chance, a curious student, and a great deal of South African stubbornness.

A Cross Nobody Thought to Try

Prof Abraham Izak Perold had a bold idea. South Africa needed its own grape — one that could handle the fierce heat of the Western Cape summer while carrying the elegance of a Burgundian red.

In his experimental garden at Stellenbosch University, he carefully crossed Pinot Noir — the prestigious grape of France’s Burgundy region — with Cinsaut, known locally at the time as Hermitage. The name pinotage came from the two parents: Pinot from Pinot Noir, and the second syllable from Hermitage.

He planted four seedlings in clay pots. Then, in 1927, he accepted a prestigious role at the KWV — South Africa’s powerful wine cooperative. He took it, left the university, and the seedlings were forgotten in an overgrown garden.

The Student Who Saved a Nation’s Wine

When a new professor moved into Perold’s old house, the garden was earmarked for clearing. The seedlings were days from being discarded.

A young student named Charlie Niehaus spotted them just in time. He recognised them as something worth saving, moved the pots to safety, and handed them to Perold’s botanical successor — who quietly continued the experiment.

It is one of the quieter acts of rescue in wine history. Without it, South Africa’s only indigenous grape variety would have vanished before a single bottle was ever made.

From Obscurity to Gold

The first pinotage wine was made in 1941 by Dr Philip Myburgh at his Stellenbosch farm, Lanzerac. The result was rough and ready — but it existed. For nearly two decades, pinotage sat in near-total obscurity. The wine world was not looking at South Africa, and South Africa was not looking at pinotage.

Then, in 1959, Lanzerac released the first commercial pinotage. Two years later, it won gold at the Cape Wine Show. Critics leaned forward. For the first time, the world started to pay attention to a grape it had never asked for.

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Why Pinotage Divides the Wine World

Pinotage is not a polite wine. Made carelessly — fermented too hot, handled too roughly — it can taste of rubber, acetone, or overripe banana. These flaws gave it a poor reputation abroad for decades.

British wine critic Jancis Robinson once described it as “quite repulsive.” Others argued South Africa should stop growing it entirely. The grape was stubborn enough to ignore them both.

Winemakers who took the time to understand pinotage — who slowed fermentation, lowered temperatures, and treated the grape with patience — discovered something remarkable. Estates like Kanonkop, Beyerskloof, and Spice Route began winning international awards and changing minds one glass at a time. If you’ve tried mediocre pinotage, you haven’t tried pinotage.

What the Glass Actually Tastes Like

At its best, pinotage delivers dark plum and blackberry, layered with earthy warmth and a gentle smokiness that seems to carry the scent of the Cape’s dry summer air. It is bold, distinctive, and unapologetically South African.

Pair it with a South African braai — the wood smoke in the food mirrors the wine beautifully. Or drink it alongside slow-cooked lamb or rich Cape stews. Pinotage resists delicacy, and that is precisely its charm.

The Western Cape also produces extraordinary flavours beyond the vine — the marula fruit that grows wild across the north has its own story of rescue and reinvention that feels oddly familiar.

Where to Experience It

Stellenbosch is the heartland. The farms that stretch along the R310 and the routes through Franschhoek and Paarl have been refining pinotage for generations. Most offer cellar tours and tastings in settings of almost unreasonable beauty — vine rows, mountain backdrops, Cape Dutch homesteads glowing white in the afternoon sun.

From Cape Town, the winelands are an hour’s drive and an entire world away. Go early in the morning. Stay for a long lunch. Let the mountains and the autumn light and a glass of proper pinotage do what the Western Cape does better than almost anywhere — make you feel entirely at home.

Pinotage was invented by accident, rescued by a student, ignored for twenty years, and still became the wine that defines a nation. That is a very South African story: stubborn, unexpected, and considerably better than anyone predicted.

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Plan Your South Africa Trip

Ready to explore the Cape Winelands for yourself? Our Cape Town travel guide covers the best routes from the city into Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and the surrounding valleys — including where to taste, where to stay, and what not to miss.

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