Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2016

Gargantuan.

The Cape’s extended drought may be reducing the size of yields but generally seems to have had remarkably little effect on wine quality. The Black Label Pinotage 2016 from Kanonkop, however, does not seem to have benefited from warmer and drier conditions that prevailed during growing season.

Grapes from a single vineyard planted on granite in 1953, the wine underwent maturation for some 18 months in French oak, 100% new. The nose is heady with notes of incense, macerated cherries, banana loaf, vanilla and spice while the palate is sweet, extraordinarily rich, smooth textured and hot on the finish. It will have a following in some quarters but it’s not a patch on the stellar 2015. Wine Cellar price: R1 750 a bottle.

Editor’s rating: 91/100.

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