It’s the eternal debate amongst serious South African fine wine collectors and drinkers – Which is finer and more age worthy? The Kanonkop Paul Sauer Cape Bordeaux Blend or their straight Cabernet Sauvignon? While the 2015 Paul Sauer blend might have garnered Tim Atkin MW’s first SA 100 point score, many asked whether the straight Cabernet Sauvignon released several months later was in fact possibly the finer wine of the two?

Well, having just tasted both the 2015 and the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignons recently, I can assure you that firstly, the new Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 (now available in the UK and EU) is a magnificent fine wine yet again, while the 2015 still displays an incredibly complete, youthful, polished but powerful demeanour, representing the very best of Cabernet Sauvignon perfection from Stellenbosch.

With the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon recently released in the local SA market to yet again, a certain amount of high critical acclaim, devotees in the UK will have to satiate their Cabernet urges for some time to come with the highly accomplished and very impressive 2018 vintage.

Kanonkop Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, WO Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, 14.83% Abv.

 2.7 g/l RS | 5.2 g/l TA | 3.78 pH

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is a delightful full-bodied expression harvested at 4 tons per hectare from vines on average 26 years old before being aged for 24 months in 50% new French oak Nevers barrels. The build up to the harvest saw hot and dry conditions but the all-important cooler nights helped retain vibrant acidity levels on most of the top Stellenbosch expressions. The textbook aromatics on this 2018 are wonderfully perfumed and lifted with notes of sweet violets, cigar box, saline oyster shell and dried kelp maritime notes which melt into plush crème de cassis, inky black cherry, new oak spice and vanilla pod nuances. The tannins are dense and creamy showing a fine weight on the palate while all the time being kept in a fine equilibrium and harmony by the vintage’s fresh linear acids. This is a seriously well-formed, plush expression that will be accessible earlier than the block buster vintages of 2015 and 2017 but will undoubtedly age gracefully for at least 15 to 20+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Kanonkop wines are imported into the UK for trade exclusively by Seckford Agencies and are available on strict allocation.