Bellemore Family Selection Pinotage Stellenbosch 2020

Pinotage—South Africa’s signature grape—was born from a cross of Cinsault and Pinot Noir in 1925. Now, 100 years on, we’re thrilled to debut Bellemore Family Selection, a rich, robust and warming celebration of the variety’s centennial anniversary from an estate that’s farmed the grape since its early days.

It all began as a simple experiment of curiosity by University of Stellenbosch professor Abraham Isak Perold. Realizing Cinsault, the country’s top red at the time, wasn’t very well known worldwide, he wanted to see what would happen if he bred the variety with one that was beloved widely.

Brushing a male flower with the pollen of some Pinot Noir, he created four little seedlings and planted them in his garden. But then… he seemed to have forgotten them, moving away and moving on with his academic life. It wasn’t until years later, when a young lecturer biked by the professor’s abandoned home and noticed the vines, that the grape was revived and rootstocks began to be propagated.

Flash forward to 1953, and winegrower P.K. Morkel was seeking Gamay cuttings to plant at Bellevue wine estate. When none were available, he was persuaded to give Pinotage a try and he became one of the first farmers to plant the grape at a commercial scale. The resulting wine was awarded the Genl. Smuts Trophy in 1959 , named the best young wine at the Cape Wine Show.

Jump ahead to 2025, and Bellevue has decided to release this perfectly mature Pinotage exclusively to our customers. Aged in American oak, this wine’s rich berry fruit has taken on spicy, vanilla aromas that lead to a plump, cassis- and black cherry-laden palate with beautifully rounded tannins.