Pinotage

Pinotage is a red wine grape that is South Africa's signature variety. It was cultivated there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut (Cinsaut was known as "Hermitage" in South Africa at that time, hence the name). It typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit. The grape is a viticultural intraspecific cross of two varieties of Vitis vinifera, not an interspecific hybrid.

== History == The Pinotage grape variety was created in South Africa in 1924 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch University. Perold was attempting to combine the best qualities of the robust Hermitage with Pinot noir, which can be difficult to grow. Perold planted the four seeds from his cross in the garden of his official residence at Welgevallen Experimental Farm and then apparently forgot about them. In 1928 he left the university to take up a job with KWV co-operative and the garden became overgrown. During a clean-up at Welgevallen farm, a young academic named Dr. Charlie Neihaus managed to rescue the seedlings and replant them at Stellenbosch.