Pinotage is certainly one of those, and now you can have a range of delicious Pinotages to explore and enjoy, and then come back to stock up on those that really work for you. Pinotage is a grape variety, with the vine itself being a cross of Cinsaut and Pinot Noir, bred in 1925 by Professor Abraham Izak Perold, with the first Pinotage vinified in 1941 by CT de Waal (of the De Waal farm outside Stellenbosch). The 'Pinot' part of the name derives from Pinot Noir but the ‘age’ suffix was taken from Hermitage, which is the name that Cinsaut was known by in the Cape at the time. It is strange connection, as Hermitage is, in fact, not a grape variety, but an appellation in the Northern Rhône in France, where the only red grape permitted is Syrah.