The Amandelboord Pinotage presents a beautiful intense, deep purple colour with a magenta meniscus. Maraschino cherries, black plums, prunes and banana-flavoured Wilson toffee aromas are depicted on the nose, followed by medium acidity and medium alcohol. The palate presents young tannins that will soften with age and aeration. A slight toastiness is detected on the mid-palate followed by sweet, stewed prunes.
Technical Tasting Sheets:
Amandelboord Pinotage 2020 - PDF
Amandelboord Pinotage 2019 - PDF
Amandelboord Pinotage 2018 - PDF
Amandelboord Pinotage 2017 - PDF
Serve slightly chilled with pepper-crusted seared tuna steaks, grilled aubergines stuffed with a tomato compote, a rack of Karoo lamb straight from the grill, or char-grilled sticky beef short ribs on a bed of soft polenta.
The season presented a cold winter with good rainfall that ensured a terrific growing and ripening period during spring and summer. Due to a few small heat spikes and rain showers in January,the vines were exposed to stop-and-start conditions. This complicated determining the accurate stage of ripeness which required viticultural expertise, experience and patience. The 2020 crop size was average.
Grapes were hand-picked just before dawn, then crushed and open-fermented while undergoing pneumatic punch-downs four times a day. The wine was basket-pressed and transferred to tanks for malolactic fermentation. On completion of MLF, the wine was racked and transferred to 225 litre barrels to mature for 12 months in a combination of French and American Oak of which 12% was new oak.
2019
- Tim Atkin South African Report 2020 93 Points
- Winemag Pinotage Report 2020 90 Points
- Winemag Pinotage Report 2021 Top 10
2018
- Platter's Guide 2021 93 Points (4 ½ Stars)
- Winemag Pinotage Report 2020 Top 10
2017
- Michelangelo International Wine Awards 2019 Double Gold
- The Sommeliers Selection 2019: Reds - Voluptuous & Rich
2016
- China Wine & Spirits Awards 2018 Gold
- IWSC 2018 Gold
- Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2018 - Best Pinotage Trophy
2015
- Tim Atkin SA Report 2017 91 Points