Kanonkop Pinotage 2015

Daisy cutter.

If light and pretty is  the fashion of the day when it comes to wine, the Pinotage 2015 from Stellenbosch property Kanonkop is anything but. Matured for 18 months in French oak, 75% new and possessing an alcohol of 14.8%, this wine has plenty of grunt.

A compelling nose of plums, cherries, earth, vanilla and spice while the palate possesses a great core of fruit, fresh acidity and firm tannins. Perhaps a slight bitterness on the finish but increasingly I think this taste, at least at low levels, goes towards complexity and is therefore something to be embraced.

Delicious now, it nonetheless has all the structure to mature with benefit and deserves a place in any serious collector’s cellar. Wine Cellar price: R350 a bottle.

Editor’s rating: 93/100.

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