So, the Stormhoek Pinotage 2005 Western Cape. Is it any good? Regulars here know that I have a bit of a problem with Pinotage. It's the greenness and unripe characters that are so common, which result in wines that can be pungently medicinal and not all that nice. Or, winemakers try hard to mask this by bathing the wine in sumptuous, over the top new oak and pick late (which results in a combination of greenness plus overripeness).
This one is actually a bit different. It's nice, in fact. Look, it's not the sort of wine you want to spend hours analysing; it's a wine for drinking a little uncritically. And if you don't look below the surface too deeply, it's a very rewarding, rich, fruit-packed, spicy red. Best of all, it lacks the nasty greenness and medicinal character that can make Pinotage such a difficult drink. It's on offer at £4.99 from Waitrose from 4-24 September (normal price £5.99), so I reckon it's South Africa's second best value Pinotage (the best value is Ken Forrester's Petit Pinotage, which is gorgeously gluggable and good fun).