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Southern Right pinotage, Western Cape, South Africa
At last an animal on a New World Wine label that doesn't look like a cartoon or a souvenir. The Southern Right in the dignified engraving is an ancient great whale seen off the South African coast.
The pinotage grape inside is much younger and a hybrid, but also of distinct South African identity and deserving of respect. Born of a cross between noble pinot noir and a husky Rhone red to survive South African heat, pinotage became the standard red, occasionally rough and husky with tannin.
Southern Right was started by Hamilton Russell, of one of South Africa's grand wine families, to make a smoother version of pinotage. It is. Still the wine had dark color, the easy texture of pinot noir with the the smell and taste of ripe blackberries and dark plums. Among the spice and thorns, the grape and oak aging provide plenty of noticeable tannins.
It may be too leathery for some, but the tannins fade after sitting in the glass a bit and make it quite sturdy as a bargain keeper for the cellar if you like it.
Price: $12 to $15.