Pinotage is often unfairly looked down upon, probably because there’s a lot of trash out there. A true South African varietal, a cultivation of hermitage (cinsaut) and pinot noir, I’m always ready to spread the good word!  It comes in two distinct schools of “kinda strawberry and old banana” or in more recent times “kinda chocolaty mocha.” A few, but not that many, get the balance of these right and make a wine that’s well structured. Mostly heavily oaked, they can easily lean into zinfandel styled heft, but a few are well balanced and age nicely.

Five Fingers for Marseilles features a score that features lovely, rounded pianos and soulful viola, through to hair raising distorted strings, drums and guitars, and recordings from the dusty rural shooting location by composer and fellow wine lover James Matthes. It’s pretty epic. 

Soon after the wrap of the movie, I shared this bottle of Rijks with the chaps at a party and producer Sean Drummond said “this is the best wine I’ve ever tasted.”  

Rijks vineyard in Tulbagh offers a catalogue of older wines for you to take a chance on.