Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage 2019 75 cl.

When in the middle of the 2000s they started producing the series “Kadette” at Kanonkop Estates, it was an attempt to make a classic “Cape Blend”, with a composition of Pinotage (approx. 45-55%), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The success was immediate, and in 2010 they released a Kadette Rosé on pure Pinotage. The key to success was clearly that these wines were produced according to Kanonkop’s traditional recipe: quality grapes, lots of colour, fullness and charm. In 2012 came the third wine in the Kadette series: a red Kadette on pure Pinotage.

The Pinotage grapes for this wine come from vines that are between 5 and 20 years old, and the yield is on average approx. 50 hl. per ha. The vinification is classic with a fermentation in open vats with a stirring every two hours and a pumping over every 3 days. After fermentation and a malolactic fermentation, the wine is matured for 14 months in 1-year-old French oak barriques from Nevers.

Kadette Pinotage has a complex aroma of red fruits (raspberries, plums). The taste is quite elegant with good fruity sweetness and tones of mocha and a bit of leather. It ends dry but with a good, long aftertaste, where you sense a good tannin. It can easily withstand being matured in the cellar for 4-5 years.

Serve it with poultry, veal, pork or with pasta dishes. Try it also with a ratatouille or with spicy, Asian dishes.

Kanonkop Estate is located on the lower slopes of Mount Simonsberg in Stellenbosch in the middle of what is considered the best red wine area in South Africa. The name “Kanonkop” comes from the fact that in the 17th century there was a cannon on the property at the top of a slope (“kopje” = mountain top in Dutch), which was fired when European ships sailed past Table Bay on their way to the Cape Town. In this way, the farmers in the area got a signal that it was time to load the bullock carts with their products and then sell them to the crew on the ships, who, after several months at sea, were particularly keen on vegetables and fruit.

Originally, member of parliament and minister J. W. Sauer bought the property “Uitkyk”, and part of the land was later sold after his death in 1913. The remaining part later became identical to what is still today the Kanonkop Estate, and as his son, eponymous Paul Sauer, who was also a minister and Member of Parliament (from 1929-1970), in company with one of South Africa’s greatest rugby legends, Jan ‘Boland’ Coetzee, made it one of the absolute best wine houses in South Africa. This status is today completely intact, now that the fourth generation, brothers Johann and Paul Krige, are at the helm.

The vineyards at Kanonkop comprise 100 ha. and from here come the grapes for some of the best wines in South Africa. The tone-setting international wine writers thus almost unanimously agree to award the best wines from Kanonkop some of the highest scores among all wines from this continent.