If you've been curious about Pinotage but worried it might be too rustic or smoky, start here. The Alvi's Drift Pinotage 221 is the grape at its most welcoming, all bright fruit, gentle structure, and easygoing charm, without the tar-and-leather intensity that puts some drinkers off.
Expect an intense black-cherry colour in the glass, with a youthful purple rim and a nose bursting with bramble berries, red cherry and a whisper of warm spice. On the palate, that cherry character carries right through, framed by lively acidity, soft tannins and a medium body that makes it as good with a Tuesday night supper as it is on a Saturday with friends. Crucially, this is unwooded, only premium free-run juice, cold-fermented and left on lees for several months, so the fruit does all the talking.
The vineyards sit on the banks of the Breede River outside Worcester, where a Mediterranean microclimate, varied soils and river-fed irrigation produce ripe, fruit-driven wines without ever tipping into jammy excess. The van der Merwe family have been farming this land for three generations, and the 221 range, named after the rural road past the estate, is their everyday-value benchmark.
Pour it with spaghetti bolognese, a charcuterie board, or even a salmon sushi platter (yes, really, that gentle tannin handles it beautifully). We deliver across the UK, and at this price, it's an easy case-buy.
