There is a cannon at Kanonkop — and it’s fired every year. It’s a scaled-down model, quite teeny compared with the real, full-size gun on the estate’s gatepost — but when it’s ceremonially fired at the annual Black Label pinotage launch, there’s at least one person who screams at the astonishingly loud boom.
But when it comes to big bangs, the Stellenbosch wine estate has form: in 2019, Kanonkop was the inaugural winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s (IWSC’s) outstanding wine producer.
Against all comers worldwide in the competition’s 50-year history, this wine property was judged to be the most consistently successful. No mean feat for a winery that began bottling its own wines only in 1973 and has had just four winemakers to date. (This recognition was helped by the IWSC winemaker of the year trophy, awarded four times: once to Beyers Truter in 1991 and three times to recently departed cellar chief Abrie Beeslaar in 2008, 2015 and 2017.)
The 2022 vintage of its acclaimed red blend Paul Sauer has just hit the market at about R1,000 a bottle, but this is the wine that also holds the record as South Africa’s first 100-point wine, an accolade bestowed upon the 2015 vintage by Master of Wine Tim Atkin. It’s always a Bordeaux-style blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc in varying proportions, but it’s the seamless elegance and texture of the wine that have fostered its reputation.
Francois van Zyl, head of the cellar team, spoke about the special soils and vineyards that contribute to the Paul Sauer blend. “These are — in my opinion — the Romanée-Conti vineyards of South Africa,” he says, referencing one of the world’s most sought-after (and expensive) Burgundies. (Domaine Romanée-Conti sells in the secondary market for anywhere from R50,000 to R100,000 a bottle — if you can get it.)
The Paul Sauer vineyards are about 7ha in extent, on the lowest-lying part of the farm. They’re also the weakest soils, in the coldest and wettest spot, which is why they are parallel planted on ridges, like railway tracks. Proprietor Johann Krige says viticulturists recommended keeping this vlei for cattle pasture.
“We’re limited by these seven hectares,” says Van Zyl. “We can’t just add cabernet sauvignon or anything from another vineyard because then the wine loses that special Paul Sauer character.” How does he know? Because they’ve tried it. “And it doesn’t work.” What wine farmer wouldn’t want to be able to bump up production of one of South Africa’s most in-demand wines, locally and abroad?
We don’t need fruit; we have more than enough fruit. For Paul Sauer, we need structure and body
— Francois van Zyl
One thing that shone through at the new vintage launch was not messing with a successful formula. Kanonkop makes the wine the same way, year after year: the same quick four- to five-day fermentation and extraction before it goes into French oak barrels for maturation. And always the same coopers, with the barrels coming from Seguin Moreau, Demptos and Nadalié. “We know what we get from those coopers’ barrels — and it’s structure. We don’t need fruit; we have more than enough fruit. For Paul Sauer, we need structure and body.”
Kanonkop has just embarked on a large-scale recorking operation. It’s one of the few South African producers to hold back significant quantities of its production each year for later release.
Every year, to coincide with the release of the top-tier Black Label pinotage, special customers and members of the wine club are invited to the farm and given the opportunity to buy 10-year-old wines, which are perfectly matured, having slumbered not far from where they were made. Visitors to the tasting room can also buy these exclusive older bottles.
The recorking operation was carried out under the watchful eye of Joaquim Sá of Amorim Cork. Winemaking students from Elsenburg had the task of uncorking thousands of bottles of cabernet sauvignon, Paul Sauer and pinotage — older vintages (2000 or earlier).
Describing the process, Krige says this was done to ensure the highest quality was maintained. Any dodgy bottles were rejected at source. “Each bottle is opened and tasted to ensure it’s still good and not faulty or oxidised. Then the neck of the bottle is cleaned of any residue from the old cork, it is topped up with wine from the same vintage and type — and then it gets a fresh cork, guaranteed by Amorim.”
Not only that, Krige says, but each bottle receives an individually numbered seal, logged on the estate’s system. “Anyone who buys a bottle of Kanonkop can go on our website and check that individual seal number to ascertain when it was recorked.”
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