Kanonkop Wine Estate : Pinotage 2023

Characteristics and tasting notes for the Kanonkop Wine Estate Pinotage 2023

Tasting

Appearance

This Pinotage 2023 displays a deep, almost opaque purple colour, immediately hinting at a dense structure and impressive concentration.

Nose

The nose opens on aromas of plum, blackberry and mulberry, wrapped in nuances of rich vanilla, smoky notes and toasted nuts, lending the wine remarkable aromatic complexity.

Palate

The palate is generous and full-bodied, carried by flavours of plum, cherry, black fig and pomegranate, enhanced by touches of dark chocolate, blackberry and woody spice. The tannins, at once dense and silky, blend elegantly with a lively acidity, resulting in a beautifully balanced whole.

Food and wine pairing

This Pinotage 2023 will pair beautifully with spicy Asian dishes and fragrant curries, as well as squid preparations spiced with wasabi. It also pairs very well with all game meats, grilled or seared sea fish, and duck.

Serving and cellaring

The Pinotage 2023 is best served between 16 and 18°C; in its youth, it will benefit from decanting to fully release its bouquet. With an official ageing potential of 20 to 25 years, or even longer under good storage conditions, this Pinotage 2023 can be cellared until approximately 2043-2048.

A generous, richly textured red wine from South Africa

The estate

Established in 1973 with the bottling of its first vintage under the name Kanonkop, the estate's roots date back to 1929 on the slopes of the Simonsberg, in Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape. The brand quickly established itself as a benchmark for great South African reds, particularly Pinotage, a grape variety for which it is regarded as the spiritual home. Now run by brothers Johann and Paul Krige, heirs of the founding family, the estate grows exclusively red grape varieties across around a hundred hectares, combining family tradition with an internationally recognised commitment to quality.

The vineyard

The grapes for this Pinotage come from the Simonsberg vineyards in Stellenbosch, planted on decomposed granite soils mixed with Hutton-type clay. Trained as bush vines, the vines, aged between 34 and 67 years, are dry-farmed without irrigation, with yields deliberately limited to 5 tonnes per hectare, ensuring concentration and depth.

The vintage

The 2023 vintage began with a late, relatively dry winter, punctuated by good rainfall in June. Cold spells along with a dry spring encouraged even budbreak and limited disease pressure. A particularly rainy December then led to the development of larger berries with softer tannins. Harvest began in early February, in line with the estate's usual schedule.

Winemaking and ageing

The Pinotage 2023 was fermented in open concrete tanks at 28°C, with manual punch-downs carried out every two hours during fermentation. The juice was separated from the skins after three days of maceration. Following malolactic fermentation, this South African wine was aged for 18 months in 225-litre French Nevers oak barrels, comprising 80% new oak and 20% barrels previously used for a second wine.

Grape variety

100% Pinotage.