Uiterwyk Top of the Hill Pinotage 2000

All the nice things about Pinotage. As made by Daniël de Waal, now of Super Single Vineyards, this wine came from 50-something-year-old vineyards on what was then the family farm in Stellenbosch and was matured in new oak for 15 months according to the 2005 edition of the John Platter South African Wine Guide.

A complex nose with notes of red and black cherry, stewed plums, vanilla, chocolate, spice, earth, and boot polish while the palate still shows deep and succulent fruit with tannins that have resolved wonderfully well so that the wine comes across as smooth and mellow in the best sense – very much alive two decades later (alcohol a mere 13% contrary to what was the norm back then).

CE’s rating: 93/100.

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