Located on the premises of Leriba Lodge in Centurion, The Pinotage Restaurant & Wine Cellar was inspired by owner Allan Clingham's passion for the quintessentially South African Pinotage varietal and the philosophy of 'Friends in Good Food and Wine'. The cuisine is created to complement the berry, vanilla and chocolate tones of Pinotage wine, which can be chosen from the glass walk-in cellar. Some of the country's finest Pinotage wines can be found in this cellar, including The Pinotage's own wine pressed on the premises at the annual wine pressing festival, the only one of its kind in Gauteng. The restaurant has a custom-built winery that holds oak barrels containing the current year's Pinotage wine.

The concept has since expanded to include the Pinotage Wine Club and the Pinotage Café Wine Bar at Midrand Estates. We love wine. More importantly, we love South African wine. If you are a wine novice, then - with every sip you take – we’ll turn you into a connoisseur. If you are an expert, then… you too will appreciate the fine meals, we so lovingly prepare!

We created The Pinotage Restaurants around our desire to encourage enjoyment of wine and we are dedicated to the promotion of South African wine growers. Our Restaurants boast impressive walk-in cellars, and we often hold wine tasting evenings, which are as informative as they are entertaining. The Concept The Pinotage Hospitality Group has it roots in the Restaurant & Wine Cellar in Centurion, on the outskirts of Pretoria. However, if you look carefully, you'll find that the real star of this venture is the Pinotage wine - a uniquely South African varietal, cultivated since the 1930's.

The Pinotage Restaurant & Wine Cellar in Centurion offers 5 stylish venues, all ideal for special occasions, intimate weddings, birthday functions, corporate events, groups or individuals.An key feature of the restaurant is the walk-in wine cellar which has a remarkable collection of some of the finest Pinotage wines that have been produced. We hold an annual wine pressing festival (the only one of its kind in non-wine growing Gauteng), and the pressed juice is fermented in two oak barrels (which are kept in our winery), before being bottled and released.

Our passion for food and wine is manifested by our attention to detail: from finding the best ingredients, through rigorous quality control in the kitchen to tempting presentation and faultless service - it all adds to a splendid dining experience. Our well-trained staff will be delighted to assist you in selecting wine, which will complement your meal. Call us today to experience The Pinotage Magic!

Winery at The Pinotage 13 April 2005 over a glass of Pinotage an idea was born:… why don't we make Pinotage in Gauteng!!!! Possible? Well of course it is, and the recipe is easy: all you need is 1 venue, 2 rookie winemakers, 1 Cape wine master and 1 wine farm with a real winemaker.
"Our Restaurant is the only one with a full production winery in Gauteng."This brought to life the very successful Pinotage Wine Pressing Festivals, held every February, involving the whole community in producing wine the old-fashioned way!

Firstly, the grapes get removed from the stems, all the berries placed in open half-barrels. Then feet get washed and the fun starts, with people dancing on the berries inside the barrels. Wine and music are provided. Once the berries are sufficiently crushed (as judged by the winemaster), the - then pulp - is transferred in wheelie bins and poured into open fermentation tanks. Here the wine (well, soon to be wine) is left on the skins to ferment for approximately 5 days, closely monitored.

Once the juice reaches the correct levels, it is crushed off in the final crushing process with a basket crusher. The juice is then strained and poured into the oak barrels, where it will stay for at least 12 months. Our Restaurant is the only one with a full production winery in Gauteng. The winery is complete with its own fermentation tanks, basket crusher, bottling machine and corking machine. The winery is used for wine tours presented to local and foreign visitors, which gives them a taste of South African wine and the wine making process.

About the Creators

Allan Clingham - Allan comes from a family of hoteliers and restaurateurs dating as far back as the early 1930's. He started in the restaurant business at the age of 16; he says that he always had “passion for good food and wine”. He completed his in-service training with the Southern Sun Group, which included a three-year Diploma course in Hotel Management. He then started working for Southern Suns as junior manager. After 20 years of service, of which 10 as a General Manager, He left to form a consulting company, A&S Hospitality Services. His passion for good food and wine continues with our Hospitality Group, The Pinotage. “We hope to welcome you soon to introduce you to our exceptional range of wines and superb a la carte menu!”

Hennie Carstens - Hennie has been one of the owners of the Group from 2003. He studied hotel management and worked in a great variety of hotels. However, he spent most of his career at Southern Sun Hotels. Hennie has been known to be very “hands-on”, and personally oversaw many aspects of the Restaurant’s operation, from kitchen set up to training. Hennie left the group in late 2007. Friends in good food and wine…

Centurion Restaurant & Wine Cellar - 245 End Street, Clubview, Centurion

Pasta - The Pinotage Pasta bowl is made up of your choice of Penne, Tagliatele or Fafale with a choice of the following sauces:
- Chorizo sausage, chilli and tomato
- Basil and rocket pesto with toasted pine nuts
- Nikki blue with green olives and parsley

Centurion Restaurant & Wine Cellar Cocktail Party Menus
The Pinotage Cocktail Party Menus are not only appetising but also suitable for any budget. All options include cold and hot Crudités and a wide variety of options.

Crudités include bowls of:
Cold - Biltong, Dry Wors, Peanuts, Chips, Nachos, Cashew Nuts
Hot - Grilled Chorizo, Cabanossi
Dips - Sweet Chilli, Cream Cheese, Guacamole, Mustard,
           Blue Cheese
Canapés - On Crostini, Toasted French Bread or Pumpernickel

Cold snacks
- Smoked Salmon Trout with Capers
- Prawn with Sweet Chilli Mayonnaise
- Parma Ham with Fresh Berries
- Smoked Beef with Gherkins
- Smoked Chicken with Fresh Pineapple
- Smoked Tuna Tartar
- Shrimps with Marie Rose Sauce
- Roast Beef with Seeded Mustard
- Hickory Ham with Dijon Mustard
- Brie with Figs
- Roast Vegetables with Basil Pesto
- Ostrich Carpaccio and Parmesan Cheese Shavings
- Smoked Mussels and Cream Cheese
- Gravlax with Fresh Dill
- Chicken Tikka with Coriander
- Duck Breast with Orange Segments
- Venison with Cranberries
- Spicy Olive Tapenade and Tomato Salsa

Mini Desserts Choice minimum of any three:

Centurion Restaurant & Wine Cellar "Create Your Own' Function Menu
Are you a bit tired of just being given menus? Not happy with the dishes on inflexible menus? The Pinotage has a new concept: We have decided that it is up to you, our guest to have more choice in planning that unforgettable function. You choose the dishes that you would like to see on the buffet or set menu. This will enable you to be more in control of your budget. We of course, are still here to assist and advise you if it is so needed. From the items listed we invite you to make your own buffet or plated menus:

Starters

Included in all main course selection: a choice of one rice, one potato, and two vegetables:
Potatoes - Sauté Roast, Rosemary, Garlic Baby, Potato Bake, Berrichonne Creamed, Parmentier, Lyonnaise, Sweet Potato
Rice - Savoury, Yellow, Basmati, Tomato, Risotto, Jasmine
Traditional Pap, Samp with Beans, Couscous
Vegetables - Panache, Sweet Carrots, Roasted Pumpkin, Green Beans, Ratatouille, Butternut, Baby Marrow, Cauliflower Cheese, Broccoli with White Sauce, Spinach with Potatoes and Onion, Creamed Spinach, Stir-Fried, Sweet Corn

Sweets

Red Blends

Midstream Café Wine Bar

Fact Sheet

The Pinotage Story

The incredible series of coincidences, which is at the heart of the history of this uniquely South African grape, is becoming increasingly well-known. But it is always worth telling one more time.

The creation of Pinotage is attributed to Abraham Izak Perold. Perold was born in the Cape on 20 October 1880. Perold's outstanding academic results took him to Europe, where he studied and lived in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. He returned to South Africa in 1906 to a post as temporary professor in Chemistry at the University of Cape Town. The Cape government recognised Perold as the most qualified candidate to send on an overseas scouting mission. He returned with 177 varietals, which formed the core of a collection, which still exists at the Welgevallen Experimental Farm of the University of Stellenbosch. On his return, Perold became the first professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch. He later became Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University. He died on the 11 December 1941, after a long career with KWV.

Perold experimented with many varietals. He physically brushed a male Hermitage (Cinsaut) flower against a pollen donor Pinot Noir (also described as the Prince of French varietals.) This he did in the garden of his official residence at Welgevallen Experimental farm in 1925. The experiment created four seeds that he planted in the same garden, rather than in the university's nursery. What is less clear is why Perold tried to create offspring from two seemingly mismatched parents. He left no notes at all on the experiment, so we are left to guess. The generally accepted theory is that he was trying to create a baby with the best characteristics of mum and dad - the classic Pinot taste of Burgundy with the easy-to-grow, disease-resistant quality of Cinsaut.

The seedlings seem to have spent the next seven years largely ignored. In 1935, material was grafted from the seedlings on newly established Richter 99 and Richter 57 rootstock at Welgevallen. Perold used to make regular visits to Welgevallen. It was on one of these visits that he was shown the four grafted vines to his predecessor. Perold rekindled the enthusiasm of ten years previously, and suggested the new variety be propagated immediately. According to legend, it was during that visit to the vineyards of Welgevallen that the name Pinotage was born. It had previously been known as Perold's HermitagexPinot. (One source says that the name Herminoir was seriously considered.)

The graft that performed significantly better than the rest was chosen as the mother material of this new vinous trend. It is generally accepted that Elsenburg was the site for the first experimental vineyard of Pinotage. Lecturer CT de Waal is credited with making the first Pinotage wine in small casks at Elsenburg in 1941. The farm Myrtle Grove near Sir Lowry's Pass will go down in history as the place where the first commercial planting of Pinotage was made.

The first real recognition came in 1959 when a Bellevue red wine made from Pinotage was designated the champion wine at the Cape Wine Show. The feat was repeated in 1961 by a Pinotage from Kanonkop Estate. Stellenbosch Farmer's Winery (SFW) was first to use the name Pinotage on a label when, in 1961, they marketed the 1959 champion Pinotage wine, from Bellevue Estate, under the Lanzerac brand.

This success, and the knowledge of how robust and early-ripening the variety was, inspired more and more farmers to plant Pinotage. However, initial lack of skill amongst the wine farmers resulted in Pinotage nose being labelled as 'hot and horrible' and the flavour as 'rusty nails', by a group of visiting British Wine Masters in 1976.

But few producers did keep the faith. They continued to look for ways to improve the quality of the grape. More particularly, they concentrated their efforts in the cellar. It was a lonely row to hoe, until another wine competition re-energised the Pinotage industry. The Diner's Club Winemaker of the Year focuses on a specific varietal or wine category. The 1987 competition was dedicated to Pinotage. The winning wine was made by Beyers Truter at Kanonkop. Wine lovers went back to their cellars and opened the old bottles of Pinotage that they had stored right at the back. They were very pleasantly surprised at how well the wine had aged. Pleasant berry, banana and chocolate flavours had developed.

Four years later, the same winemaker put South African Pinotage on the world wine map once again. Kanonkop's Beyers Truter was named International Winemaker of the Year at the 1991 International Wine and Spirit Competition. He was the first South African winemaker ever to win this prestigious competition. It's very apt that he did so with a wine variety, which is quintessentially South African, at a time when political developments were ending the country's economic isolation.

In 1995, James Suckling, the editor of American Spectator, visited the Cape for a tasting of old Kanonkop Pinotages. He declared: "What the hell is going on here? These are spectacular, spectacular!" At last, after seventy years, South Africa's home-hero wine was receiving the kind of acclaim for which it had been waiting for!