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Stormhoek Pinotage: The unofficial cult grape of the Silicon Valley?

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We’ve been a bit remiss in not posting more about the 100 dinners sweeping across the US. We hope to remedy this over the next week or so. The dinners are in full swing now, with well over 50 having taken place. We’re getting lots of great stories, snaps and memorabilia back but there is one thing in particular that keeps coming up that we think is quite cool….

Few are sure of what it is, but Pinotage is fast becoming a cult grape!

When I blogged about our Pinotage release a few months back, I mentioned that most pintage is pretty yucky and we were really apprehensive about making it. So, we tried to make it taste more like really nice Australian Shiraz, than Pinotage.

As Tim Elliott of Winecast put it: “…most Pinotage is very earthy and somewhat green in character (”weedy” is a term that comes to mind) and sometimes produces wines that are quite unpleasant to drink” but he claims this was ‘the first Pinotage he has tried with a large group where everyone liked the wine’.

As you may have realised, we’re not ones to follow trends or the crowd, which is why it’s particularly poignant for us that our Pinotage seems to have broken the mould and really be turning people on. We’ve had reference to Stormhoek fast becoming the cult wine of the Silicon Valley, but a cult grape among these guys, a grape which is virtually unheard of outside South Africa – is awesome!

Mrs Deedop of Belly Timber apparently needs her fix too, “please let me know if Stormhoek is going to be available in the Portland Ore., area soon – we’re moving there in the fall and I’d be all over going on a Pinotage shopping spree: we are totally in love with the Pinotage. YUM!”

Even the Wine Fools of Atlanta (usually a tough crowd) thought it was ‘the hit of the evening’ and Andrea Rodenberg with her discerning Ambassador & Model guests claimed the Pinotage was ‘by far and away the night’s favorite selection’.

Perhaps the most overwhelming of all the Pinotage stories we heard was that of it even outshining the bride at a wedding in the Finger Lakes! Surely not, we thought. But apparently so. “My wife and I just had to take one bottle of Pinotage with us to a wedding we were attending and Wow!!! Very Fruit Forward, Medium Tannins, Just a wonderful Red. Many tasted it and it drew raves”. Hope we didn’t cause any problems on that front, Weekend Winos. White dresses, red wine and lots of excited people all sounds a bit messy!

We’re just pleased it’s starting a conversation –

So, Stormhoek Pinotage a cult grape. Who’da Thunk?

2 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Wyndham

    Hi. I won a bottle of your Pinotage at the MarketSmart Conference in Seattle last month, and I just wanted to let you know that both my husband and I really enjoyed it. We’re keeping an eye out for it at wine stores locally, and look forward to enjoying more!

    By the way, thanks also for your presentation at the conference. As a small business owner myself, I had some good laughs, as I can relate to your perspective more than I’d like (not in the wine industry specifically, but very similar themes in my industry, and perhaps in the business world in general).

    Best of luck to you — we’re looking forward to being regular Stormhoek customers!

  2. marlene begg

    Drunk many a good wine over the years but WOW.
    Your 2006 Pinotage is tremendous.
    My partner and I have a ranking book to keep us right and your pinotage is top of the list.
    Well done we will definately be buying more and recommending you to our like minded friends.

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