As for the history of winemaking in the Cape, Perold wrote in his 1927 treatise on viticulture that Hermitage was first planted here in the 1880s. At that time, the importation of vines may not have been strictly monitored, so confusion, including mislabelling, could have occurred between the origin nursery and the farmer in the Cape.
In the same treatise, Perold identified Cape Hermitage as Cinsault, noting that the variety is not grown in the northern Rhône region where Hermitage is from. Nonetheless, the incorrect name remained in use until 1935 when South Africa and France signed the Crawfish Agreement. In this document, France agreed to import South African crawfish while South Africa, in turn, committed not to use French geographic names (such as Hermitage).
That same year, the vine material of these four seedlings was grafted onto rootstocks at Perold's former official residence at Stellenbosch University, Welgevallen.
It is said that Perold and Professor CJ Theron, Dean of Oenology at Stellenbosch University and Elsenburg Agricultural College involved in winemaking, came up with the name Pinotage while examining and discussing these first grafted vines.
Were these two knowledgeable and highly qualified wine experts being pragmatic when they combined the names of the two parent grapes, one of which is a historical inaccuracy?
Try a different combination by using Cinsault instead of Hermitage with Pinot, and I doubt it would roll off the tongue as easily as Pinotage.
