2017 Kanonkop - Cabernet Sauvignon Stellenbosch
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon opens with pleasant red fruit aromas complemented by subtle oak spice. Notes of pencil shavings, graphite, blackberry, plum and dark cherry come through, creating a ripe and juicy nose. The palate is medium to full-bodied and offers balanced tannins with a refined focus on fresh oak spices. The finish is spicy with lingering hints of soft herbs and cigar box flavors. This wine is currently drinking well and has the potential to improve with time. The wine aged for two years in French oak barrels, 50% new. 72,000 bottles produced.
Critic scores
Tim Jackson MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvested in March. Five to six days of maceration in open-top concrete fermenters, followed by a five-day fermentation. Malolactic conversion completed. Aged for 24 months in 225-litre French-oak barrels (Nevers), 50% of which were new and 50% second fill. Bottled on 15 October 2019. RS 2.7 g/l, TA 6.3 g/l, pH 3.47. Total SO 2 97 mg/l, free SO 2 32 mg/l. Vegan. Glowing, dark crimson. Much, much more subtle than the previous Cabernets in this Wine Society showing, with unusual dried herb present on the palate. Certainly needs food, but it’s a serious, well-balanced wine. (JR)
A ripe, aromatic red with lots of ripe black-fruit aromas, together with bay leaf, tobacco and pinewood. Medium-to full-bodied with an array of fine-grained tannins and bright, fresh fruit components. Long finish with a polished texture. Drinkable now, but better in 2023.
Full bottle 1,366 g. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines averaging 28 years of age, planted on decomposed granite, Hutton and Clovelly soils. Picked at 4 t/ha. Fermentation in open-top, concrete fermenters at 29 °C, with the cap punched down by hand every 2 hours. The juice was drawn off the skins after 5 days. After malolactic fermentation the wine was matured for 24 months in 50% new and 50% second-fill, 225-litre, French Nevers oak barrels. Natural cork. TA 6.3 g/l, pH 3.47, RS 2.7 g/l, VA 0.51 g/l, total SO 2 97 mg/l, free SO 2 32 mg/l. Saturated ruby-purple. The nose has an exotic, floral quality, bringing to mind the Cape’s famous fynbos. However, there’s also a capsicum note lurking among the blackcurrant and black-cherry fruit. The palate is initially plush, but fairly forceful tannins make their presence felt quite quickly, and I wonder if this isn’t another 2017 drought effect? There’s plenty of fruit depth, but it’s pretty hard work right now. In time, perhaps? (TJ)