2019 Kanonkop Estate Pinotage Stellenbosch

The 2019 Pinotage was the first year they picked the old vines before the younger parcels due to uneven ripening caused by drought. It has a gorgeous and pure bouquet with black cherries, aniseed and light liquorice scents, very well defined with beautifully-integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip on the entry. The acidity gives this Pinotage plenty of tension, a dash of black pepper and a hint of rooibos towards the prolonged finish. Excellent, but I would give it a couple of years.

From dry-farmed bush vines 32 to 66 years old on decomposed granite and Hutton soils, harvested at 5 t/ha. Long-term reduction in water reserves due to the previous years of drought meant very uneven budding. Fermentation in open concrete fermenters at 28 °C, with manual punchdowns every two hours. Juice drawn off skins after three days. After malolactic fermentation, aged for 16 months in 80% new, 20% second-fill 225-litre French Nevers oak barrels. TA 5.3 g/l, pH 3.87, RS 2.5 g/l, VA 0.65 g/l, total SO 2 93 mg/l, free SO 2 45 mg/l. 72,000 bottles made . Mid purple. Youthful nose that’s all fudgy, vanilla oak and rich, smoky, black fruit, which doesn’t yet sit together as a whole. Firm, mouth-coating tannins, ripe, smoky black fruit and a vanilla-laced, warming finish. Finer-quality tannins than the 2012, even if more youthful and needing time for the wine to come together – the optical-sorting effect, perhaps? (TJ)

The 2019 Pinotage has a straightforward nose of black cherries, boysenberry and light licorice scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, and fleshy and silky in texture, offering layers of ripe black cherry and crème de cassis on the succinctly controlled finish. Classy.