Beyerskloof Winemaker’s Pinotage Reserve 2023

Four days in open fermenters with the cap punched through by hand every two hours. Fermentation temperature was between 25 – 28°C. After malolactic fermentation, the wine matured in 30% new and 70% second fill barrels for 18 months.

We had a dry winter and spring with relatively normal cold units. Budding of the vineyards started slightly earlier than normal due to a warm start to spring, with ideal growth conditions up until the last month of the year. In December, we had much-needed rain, which helped with vineyards’ water reserves before harvest. The bad news was that, in December and early January, there was high disease pressure in the vineyards. The harvest started 7 days earlier than 2022 at the Beyerskloof cellar, with Pinotage and Pinot Noir being the first grapes picked. February flew by with everything ripening at the same time, and by the end of the month, all the Pinotage was in the cellar. The end of February and March brought a lot of rain, and it made it very difficult to decide when the optimum time to harvest our Merlot and Cab’s was. In the end, we had to make hard calls during the end of the harvest, but we are pleased with the quality of the late cultivars. This was by far the wettest and toughest harvest of my career in terms of picking the grapes at optimum ripeness. Even though it was one of the most challenging vintages, we still had an above-average yield and great wines in the cellar!

18 months

Pinotage

This wine will pair well with roast duck breast or springbok fillet.

Veritas 2025 Gold

One of South Africa’s top red wine cellars, the Stellenbosch producer is unrivalled as a Pinotage specialist. With 150 hectare of vineyards based in the premium wine district of Stellenbosch, Beyerskloof ensures the growth of their quality-driven, oak matured, hand-pressed premium range of wines. It was 30 years back that the brand which has become synonymous with Pinotage was ‘born’ when the first vineyard was planted at the small home farm off the Koelenhof road, bought in 1988. Following the 1997 acquisition of 100 hectares in the Bottelary Winelands of Stellenbosch, the landholding increased again in 2018 with the purchase of a 50 hectares spread of vineyards known as Kriekbult between the winery and the Simonsberg as viewed from the deck of the bistro at Beyerskloof. Marvelling at growth and development during the 30 years since Beyers thrust his hands into the soil and planted the first vines on home soil, it’s exciting to contemplate what the next 30 years might hold as Anri and the Beyerskloof family push the envelope viticulturally and in the cellar. Might there even be one more expression of Pinotage in the making?