Description
Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2023 is a Stellenbosch red that shows the variety at full scale, with ripe fruit, serious structure, and the kind of cellar intent that has made this bottling one of South Africa’s benchmark Pinotages. This is not a casual, easygoing expression. It is built around concentration, oak depth, and a firm but polished frame, offering a more ambitious take on Pinotage for drinkers who value both power and precision.
The nose opens with plum, blackberry, licorice, smoke, roasted nuts, and rich vanilla, giving the wine immediate breadth and presence. On the palate, plum, black cherry, and red cherry fruit sit at the center, layered with dark chocolate and spicy oak. The tannins are ripe and plush, but they still provide grip and direction, while the acidity keeps the wine balanced and stops the richness from becoming heavy. The finish is long and confident, making it especially well suited to roast lamb, braised beef, venison, or smoky grilled meats where its fruit, spice, and structure can settle naturally into the dish.
Already impressive in its youth, this is a Pinotage with the depth and balance to mature beautifully over time, gaining even more harmony and nuance with age.
The nose opens with plum, blackberry, licorice, smoke, roasted nuts, and rich vanilla, giving the wine immediate breadth and presence. On the palate, plum, black cherry, and red cherry fruit sit at the center, layered with dark chocolate and spicy oak. The tannins are ripe and plush, but they still provide grip and direction, while the acidity keeps the wine balanced and stops the richness from becoming heavy. The finish is long and confident, making it especially well suited to roast lamb, braised beef, venison, or smoky grilled meats where its fruit, spice, and structure can settle naturally into the dish.
Already impressive in its youth, this is a Pinotage with the depth and balance to mature beautifully over time, gaining even more harmony and nuance with age.
The wine was fermented in open-top concrete fermenters at 28°C, with the cap punched down by hand every two hours during fermentation to manage extraction and build depth. The juice was drawn off the skins after three days, preserving fruit purity while capturing sufficient color and tannin.
After malolactic fermentation, the wine matured for 18 months in 225L French Nevers oak barrels, using 80% new oak and 20% second-fill barrels, a regime that adds structure, spice, and aging capacity without losing the core character of the fruit.
Winemaker : Abrie Beeslaar
After malolactic fermentation, the wine matured for 18 months in 225L French Nevers oak barrels, using 80% new oak and 20% second-fill barrels, a regime that adds structure, spice, and aging capacity without losing the core character of the fruit.
Winemaker : Abrie Beeslaar
Kanonkop is a fourth generation family estate, which was originally purchased by JW Sauer, a cabinet member in the parliament of the Union of South Africa. Kanonkop Estate is situated on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain in the Stellenbosch Region of the Cape.
It is between Stellenbosch and Paarl on the R44 and falls in a ward called Simonsberg, more commonly known as the “red wine bowl” of South Africa. It has earned a reputation both at home and abroad as an area producing the best wines in the country. Besides the solid foundation on which the estate’s winemaking principles are based, it is also blessed with ideal soils, cool sea breezes and long summer days, creating the perfect climate for growing grapes.
It is between Stellenbosch and Paarl on the R44 and falls in a ward called Simonsberg, more commonly known as the “red wine bowl” of South Africa. It has earned a reputation both at home and abroad as an area producing the best wines in the country. Besides the solid foundation on which the estate’s winemaking principles are based, it is also blessed with ideal soils, cool sea breezes and long summer days, creating the perfect climate for growing grapes.
