Pinotage

Pinotage
Grape (Vitis)
Pinotage wine from the Stellenbosch region
Color of berry skin	Red
Species	Vitis vinifera
Also called	Perold's Hermitage x Pinot
Origin	South Africa
Notable regions	Stellenbosch-Simonsberg, South Africa
VIVC number	9286

Pinotage /ˈpɪnətɑːʒ/ PIN-ə-tahzh^[1] is a red wine grape that is South Africa's signature variety. It was cultivated there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut (Cinsaut was known as "Hermitage" in South Africa at that time, hence the name). It typically produces deep red varietal wines with smoky, bramble and earthy flavours, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit, but has been criticised for sometimes smelling of acetone.^[2] The grape is a viticultural intraspecific cross of two varieties of Vitis vinifera, not an interspecific hybrid.