Eight Gates Pinotage 2019 Breedekloof, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Everything Eight Gates makes is produced in tiny quantities by Carlo Suter, a trained cabinetmaker turned winemaker who studied oenology at Stellenbosch. He and childhood friend Kolja Sturmer launched the label in 2023, and Carlo’s craftsman’s eye shows in the detail, right down to the Italian oak he helps make himself at a small Dolomites cooperage.

This is a single vineyard Pinotage from Breedekloof, in the warmer Breede River Valley, off vines planted in 1998. The fruit was hand harvested and crushed into open fermenters with around ten percent whole bunches, then coaxed along by wild yeast with gentle daily punch downs. Two years in a 500 and a 225 litre barrel followed. It is Pinotage made for finesse rather than force.

2019 was a small, low yielding vintage in South Africa, following several dry years that left vines carrying less fruit but ripening it with real concentration. Warm, dry conditions through the growing season made for deeply flavoured reds with good colour and structure, wines built to reward a few years in bottle before opening up.

In the glass it shows cherry and plum, with intriguing lifted notes of incense and fynbos, the local Cape scrubland. Time has added a savoury, gently meaty edge, but the fruit stays fresh and forward. The palate is medium bodied and supple, tannins now soft, finishing clean and dry. It is drinking well now and will hold comfortably. Try it with lamb, roast duck or a mushroom risotto.

Christian Eedes at Winemag gave the 2019 a score of 90 points, noting how well it is drinking. This is a world away from the bold, sometimes rustic Pinotage of old, closer in spirit to a fragrant, medium weight red than a blockbuster. If you have written the grape off, this thoughtful, small batch bottling is the one to change your mind.