Much is made of the food that could complement various wines. Fortunes are spent on glassware that accentuates certain aspects of wines’ aroma. There are even ideal serving temperatures for wines.

To the mix we can now add a further consideration; whether the wine is being consumed in- or outdoors. We hosted a group of Danish customers to a Gourmet BBQ lunch at Cloof yesterday. The 38-degree ambient temperature was a fantastic contrast to the weather they had left behind on Saturday, but it wasn’t necessarily ideal for a tasting of big reds.

What amazed us was the way in which the 2003 Cloof Pinotage stood up to the conditions. Lynchpin – a genteel and elegant wine – is an amazing accompaniment to a smart dinner comprising classical European cuisine. When consumed al fresco we find that the ‘great outdoors’ overwhelms the wine’s refinement.

The Cloof Pinotage, on the other hand, is the Outdoor Barbie, the 4x4 of wines. Neither a sweltering day, nor the multitude of competing plant scents, could dissuade this wine from doing anything other than delivering a huge mouthful of flavour. Drinking it yesterday was a great experience.