The Original Pinotage 2023

Diemersfontein is located in Wellington , about an hour from Cape Town, in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. The estate was founded in 1943 and already belongs to the 3rd generation, managed by the Sonnenberg family. Like his grandfather, David Sonnenberg devoted himself to social and cultural tasks. A lover of classical music, he sponsors young musicians and singers from the country for their apprenticeship in Europe. He also established a nursery school for black and white children in Wellington, improving the conditions for children to enter the education system.

This vintage represents everything that the Pinotage grape variety can embody. The grapes were harvested at optimal maturity. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats with regular pumping over, then the wine rests for 6 months in oak barrels . This atypical wine reveals notes of black cherry , blackberry , red plum , blackcurrant , fresh coffee , tobacco , pepper , cocoa and nutmeg . The palate is rich and opulent with melted tannins and a long, smoky finish.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.