Easter Wine: Chocoholic Pinotage Review

On the hunt for an Easter wine, I picked up this Darling Cellars Chocoholic Pinotage from Co-op. Could this be your Easter egg’s ideal drinking buddy?

I’ve never been a fan of “oholic” as a general-purpose suffix. It’s a weird way of specifying addictive behaviours — surely it only works when you’re talking about alcohol. Are you addicted to shopohol? No. Perhaps you just can’t stop yourself from engaging in workohol? I doubt it.

But in the case of Chocoholic wine, at least it makes some kind of sense — in that it’s designed to appeal to both chocolate lovers and, erm… alcoholics.

Mind you… the name would make more sense if the wine actually tasted like chocolate. I mean, I’ve certainly had more chocolatey red wines than this in the past. That’s not to say it won’t pair well with chocolate though, which is perhaps more what the producers, Darling Cellars, intended?

If I’d thought of this in advance, I’d have drunk it alongside an 80% dark chocolate from the steamiest recesses of the Costa Rican jungle. Failing that, a Double Decker would have done.

The Taste

The Chocoholic Pinotage’s label is beautifully designed in a retro-chocolate-wrapper style. But gimmicks aside, the product it drapes itself around is pretty typical for a South African Pinotage at this price point.

Pinotage is the second most widely planted grape in South Africa. And although it’s a hybrid of Cinsault and Pinot Noir grapes, it doesn’t bear much resemblance to either. It does has some of the earthiness you associate with Pinot Noir, but it’s much heavier in body and darker in colour.

This one starts off with tobacco smokiness and black cherry flavours. And yes, there’s a hint of chocolate in there too. But if you leave it to open up, you’ll notice more red fruit (redcurrant and even strawberry) popping out.

It might not be quite as chocolaty as the label suggests, but this Chocoholic Pinotage sure would pair well with a Curly Wurly and a maxi pack of Revels. And it could well be the perfect post-egg-hunt wine for Easter.

3.5 NINJA STARS

Chocoholic Pinotage 2016. Available for £9.99 at Co-op. 14.5% vol, screw cap.