Weekly Vocabulary

Pinotage - The name of both the red wine and the grape grown and made mostly in South Africa. The Pinotage grape was originally bred in 1925 from a cross between the grapes pinot noir and cinsaut. Well-made Pinotages are medium- to full-bodied wines, with rich red fruit aromas and flavors. Poor versions often have a rubbery aroma. This wine pairs well with hearty meat dishes.

Angel's share - The portion of the wine that evaporates through the porous oak barrels during the aging process. In cellars or caves with low humidity, most evaporation is water. In high humidity conditions, more alcohol than water is lost, reducing the alcoholic strength of the wine, but making the angels a lot happier.