Kanonkop Pinotage Vertical Collection in Wooden Box

About the Wine Estate

The name Kanonkop is derived from a hillock (kop) on the Simonsberg mountain above the wine estate from where, during the 17th and 18th centuries, a cannon (kanon) was fired to announce the arrival of sailing ships entering Table Bay. The roar of the cannon would be the signal to local farmers, who were waiting to make the 50-kilometer journey to the harbour, to load up their wagons with fresh fruit and vegetables to barter their produce. The first wines bearing the Kanonkop label were produced in 1973. To wine lovers familiar with the centuries old châteaux and domaines of Bordeaux and Burgundy respectively, the winemaking history of our estate may seem surprisingly young. For 1973 was the year in which Kanonkop’s contention for a place in the annals of South African wine greatness began, just three years before the death of the man to whom the wine estate owes everything it has achieved and all the recognition it has attained: Paul Sauer.The ambition to make great wine remains as fervent today as when Kanonkop bottled its maiden estate wine from the 1973 vintage. From the farming of the vineyards, the ethos of traditional old-school winemaking and the quality of new French oak barrels to preparing the wine for bottling, only the best is good enough. The biggest challenge for the winemaker is not to manipulate the wine but to still be able to show the characteristics of that specific vintage 10–20 years later. One of the features of Kanonkop is a nod towards an old-world, classic pedigree: the ability of its wines to age well. Not merely longevity, but an ability to gain complexity and a spectacular array of nuances as the wine ages in the bottle.