Bellevue Estate holds a unique place in South African wine history as the birthplace of Pinotage. In 1925, Professor Abraham Izak Perold planted the original Pinotage vines, a crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, in the garden of the estate’s 1701 manor house, located in the Bottelary Hills ward of Stellenbosch. That single mother vine became the genetic source for the variety now considered one of South Africa’s signature grapes.
Today, Bellevue Estate continues to honor this legacy, cultivating old-vine Pinotage on the estate’s decomposed Granite soils. With its rich terroir and direct lineage to Pinotage’s origins, Bellevue Estate remains a touchstone for the cultivar’s identity and evolution, making their Estate, Reserve and Heritage Pinotage Cuvées go to wines for discerning consumers.
Bellevue Estate Pinotage 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The resurgent Bellevue Estate has just released another very impressive “Estate” level Pinotage to complement their respected Reserve and Heritage cuvées. Aged for 12 months in French-coopered American oak barrels, the aromatics are lifted, beautifully fragrant and simply bursting with notes of perfumed violets, red and black cherries and an undertone of freshly baked blueberry crumble. In the mouth, the texture is soft and supple, the tannins silky and fine grained with delicately reductive blue and black berry hints, a delightful salty liquorice twist, and a concentrated, accessible, mouth watering finish. A deliciously joyful wine with real substance that will appeal to true blue Pinotage lovers as well as consumers new to the cultivar. Drink now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Bellevue wines are imported into the UK and are available on request through South African specialist, Museum Wines.
The Bellevue Estate in Stellenbosch is the oldest commercial producer of Pinotage in South Africa, having produced both South Africa’s first bottled and award winning Pinotage. Bellevue’s story is one of bold decisions and forward thinking. When Pieter Krige (P.K.) Morkel couldn’t find Gamay vines in 1953, he embraced a pioneering South African cultivar: Pinotage. This decision not only shaped Bellevue’s identity but also contributed to the global recognition of Pinotage as a uniquely South African wine. “We currently work with the oldest average vine age in Stellenbosch with our youngest block 25 years old and our oldest being 73 years old” explains long time winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger.
Among the Bellevue Estate red range is a very special wine with a profound sense of place from one of the oldest commercial Pinotage vineyards in the world, planted in 1953. When the maiden 1959 vintage won trophies galore, Pieter Krige Morkel was crowned South Africa’s new ‘king of wine’. His hands-off approach then is replicated today by winemaker Wilhelm to let the grace and wisdom of the old vine vineyards shine through.
Beyond their historic Pinotage, the estate also possesses one of the five oldest Cinsault vineyards in South Africa, planted in 1952, which now forms part of their illustrious Heritage range. But in 2026, the Heritage range will be joined by their newly branded 1976 Old Vine Chenin Blanc that used to go into their Eselsgraf Reserve Chenin Blanc. Another sublime highlight is undoubtedly their phenomenal Cabernet Franc, a wine that won the Red Wine Trophy at the Michelangelo Awards with the 2022 vintage, and again last year, with the 2023. In this tasting, I review the new release 2024, and predictably, it’s business as usual. Finally, there is a reason Stellenbosch is known as the “Kingdom of Cabernet” producing some of the most exciting examples of Cabernet Sauvignon in the Cape winelands.
Bright, juicy floral aromatics with green apple, green melon, rock candy and dried hay. Piercing concentration leads the charge on the palate, tangy, fleshy and delicious mouthfeel and weight supported by green apple pastille, pear and white peach. Beautiful typicity with punchy intensity.
Not since the release of the 2021s has there been a South African harvest that has created as much excitement among producers and consumers alike as the 2025 vintage. When you taste this stunning hand harvested bush vine Chenin Blanc you really see the vintage in all its glory, the aromatics deliciously pure, vibrant and lifted, bursting with complex layers of green apples, white peach rock candy, talcum powder, and a delicately sweet fynbos spice after its rained. The palate is pure, intense, and concentrated with a chiselled, tangy fresh acidity that coats the mouth, preparing your taste buds for bursts of Granny Smith green apple fruits with a splash of tart yellow grapefruit citrus. Crisp and pure yet crystalline and textural, this wine is like a very well-tuned orchestra with every instrument playing in perfect harmony. Drink this stunner before it sells out.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Heritage Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
This delightful new 2025 Chenin Blanc definitely sings the praises of this exceptional vintage in the Cape, boasting exotic aromatics of Muscat grape jelly, green honeydew melon, white peaches, and honeysuckle over complexing hints of wet straw and savoury leesy nuances. With such a ripe concentrated vintage such as 2025, you get to experience the full breadth and depth of this Old Vine Chenin Blanc that’s expertly balanced with tangy fresh acids, a delicate sweet and sour vibrancy together with a gently Granitic mineral salinity. Supremely harmonious and balanced with a majestic textural elegance, this youthful wine should develop a real personality with a few more years in bottle. This is another superb embryonic blockbuster from Bellevue. Drink from 2027 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Pinotage 2020, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
Classical aromatics of savoury earthy black berries, cured meats, tilled earth and sweet Christmas spices. Acids are bright and the red and black fruits crunchy and intense, the mid-palate sleek and savoury. Punchy, approachable, and easy drinking.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Malbec 2022, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
An exotic terroir driven aromatics laced with Buchu, fynbos and Eucalyptus complexity with black sappy berry fruits, chocolate peppermint crisp and dried herb spice. The acids are crisp and fresh, the black sappy berry fruits minty and attractive with brightness, a lifted black fruit energy and a sleek, mineral-tinged powdery tannin finish.
33/33/33 – new, second, 3rd fill oak barrels used for ageing the 40% Pinotage, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The aromatics show an attractive melange of creamy sappy black berry fruits, packed with earthy dried herbs, granitic minerality and savoury meaty hints. The acids are tangy and energetic, the red and black bramble berry fruits creamy, extracted and fine grained, finishing with serious power, minerality and length. Classy wine that punches above its weight.
The only thing possibly more exciting than a top Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch is a full throttle, five cultivar Cape Bordeaux Blend, and this 2023 is an assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The aromatics have many of the earthy, loamy, freshly tilled earth notes of the pure Cabernet Sauvignon but then reveals multiple extra layers of sweet violets, white blossoms, sweet black currants, black cherry and a delicate graphite minerality. The palate is plush, polished, and focused with a textural generosity consistent with the 2023 vintage, with all fruit brought in before the late season harvest rains. Once again, the mouthfeel is creamy, supple, and fine grained with sweet pliable tannins, soft well integrated tangy acids and a long, delicately toasty, brûléed finish. The oaking is expertly managed, marrying pure, plush fleshy fruits, leaving a sensation of hedonistic harmony and balance on the finish. A supremely well-constructed wine that also has legs for further beneficial ageing. Drink now and over the next 10 to 12+ years. Such a delight to drink.
Aged in 50/50 new and second fill French oak barrels for 22 to 24 months. The aromatics are deep and broody with layers of black berry, creme de cassis, damson plum, mulberry, tilled earth, vanilla pod and sweet Christmas spices. The palate breadth and balance is impressive, dense, tight grained, harmonious and intense without losing balance and elegance. This wine ticks a lot of boxes and shows a lot of commercial appeal.
Aged in 60% new and 40% second fill French oak barrels, the aromatics are pure and regal, a Cabernet Sauvignon expression that shows why Stellenbosch is truly world class. Deep, dark black fruited aromatics with creme de cassis, black cherry, and spicy mulberry with Christmas spices, hints of tannery leather, black chai tea and cigar box. The acids are fresh and crystalline but tightly interwoven with structured black fruits, subtle hints of leafy, earthy dried herb spices, finishing with length and intensity and a subtle mineral undertone. Very classy indeed with plenty of stuffing for a cooler, fresher vintage.
The Bottelary ward of Stellenbosch is prime Cabernet Sauvignon country and this delightful 2023 is a very classy expression, the aromatics deep, sumptuous and complex. There is an extra dimension of ripeness and density on the 2023 nose with deep, savoury tilled earth aromatics that melt into notes of wet tobacco leaf, earthy black currant and damson plum fruits with just a hint of pressed violet perfume. In the mouth, this wine is broad and creamy with the texture of velvet that is caressed by soft silky tannins, sweet fleshy black and blue berry fruits before a dusty, wet stone graphite-laden minerality on the finish. The extraction is expertly handled offering a plush, luxurious, fleshy depth of fruit with a genuinely accessible, generous opulence. So delicious already, why keep this too long in the cellar when you can enjoy its tangy, vibrant, fleshy opulence now. Drink now to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
Aged in 100% New French oak for 20-21 months. Shows classic Cabernet Franc notes with great varietal typicity – cedar, spice, tree bark, dried herbs and perfumed black berry fruits. The palate is cool, crisp and distinguished with sweet baking herbs, earthy leafy spice, tea leaf, lead pencil and tangy fresh black berry fruits on the finish. Tight knit, grippy, densely fruited and quite complete for the vintage. Undoubtedly among the top expressions of Cabernet Franc in SA!
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2024, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
The Bellevue Estate’s Cabernet Franc quality is synonymous with premium quality winning multiple awards year after year. This 2024 is another outstanding example that combines the vintage condition’s translucent fruit purity and freshness with the winemaker’s pinpoint precision to yield a wine of outstanding beauty. The aromatics are stand out, supremely plush, perfumed and layered with sweet violets, sappy cedar, and cinnamon spices over hints of tea leaf, red currants and blue berries. Cool, precise, and attractively chiselled, there is a real elegant classicism to the texture, with satin soft tannins, bright lemon-like tangy acids and a long, piercing red fruited persistence on the finish. What a truly magnificent wine. Get your hands on a bottle at all costs! Drink now to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate Heritage Range Cinsault 2024, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
Undoubtedly, one of the most famous premium Cinsault reds produced in South Africa, this 2024 shows intricate, complex aromatics laced with rose petal, potpourri, raspberry herbal tea, red cherries, fynbos, dried herbs, dusty stony minerals and intricate Turkish delight nuances. The palate is tight knit, compact and intense, deliciously sweet fruited, incredibly concentrated and intense with a sleek, harmonious mineral texture. A phenomenal expression of old vine Cinsault that combines power, intensity, precision and purity. Simply breathtaking. Drink now to 2050+.
Few Pinotage wines are as evocative as the Old Vine wines from Bellevue Estate. Incredibly deep, dense, dark black fruited aromatics reveal notes of violets, black berries, chocolate peppermint crisp, sweet raspberries, berry herbal tea and white pepper notes. On the palate there’s a pronounced menthol brightness and tart berry freshness together with delicious, sweet Christmas spices, delicate fynbos hints and exotic Asian spices. Beautifully powerful with immense drinkability and accessibility with an underlying seriousness. This is premium Pinotage… but not as you know it. Drink now to 2041+.
The 2023 Reserve Pinotage is an impressively complex expression of this grape from one of South Africa’s finest proponents. The aromatics are deep and broody, revealing layers of polished mahogany, bay leaf spice, vivid black and blue berry fruits, mulberries, and subtle caramelized vanilla oak spice nuances. The palate is full, fleshy, and noticeably broad and glycerol with a vivid acid frame that balances the sweet black fruit concentration with a beautiful freshness and supple, delicately creamy tannins. A bold, fleshy, opulent style of Pinotage with plenty of character and seductive charm. Drink now to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Bellevue Estate will be available in the UK soon from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.
Not only is Bellevue Estate in Stellenbosch the oldest commercial producer of Pinotage in South Africa, having produced both South Africa’s first bottled and award-winning Pinotage in 1959 from vines planted in 1953, it is also the producer of one of Stellenbosch’s most exciting Old Vine white wines – the Heritage Chenin Blanc 2025.
This hand harvested single vineyard Old Bush Vine Chenin Blanc was planted in 1976 and was barrel fermented in French oak barrels to compliment the fruit concentration, richness, and intensity of the Old Vine fruit. With only 1,088 bottles produced, this is sure to be one of the most exciting new releases on the South African market in 2026.
Bellevue Estate’s longtime winemaker, Wilhelm Kritzinger.
As I have a much bigger red and white wine multi-vintage tasting assessment on the impressive wines of the Bellevue Estate being published very soon on A Fine Wine Safari, I thought it would be suitably fitting to give this impressive new release its own individual preview. Due to be released in April/May in South Africa, if the wine gods are kind, hopefully a few bottles of this impressive wine will find their way to UK shores before selling out!
This delightful 2025 Old Vine Heritage Chenin Blanc definitely sings the praises of this exceptional quality vintage in the Cape, boasting exotic aromatics of Muscat grape jelly, green honeydew melon, white peaches, green pear and honeysuckle notes over complexing savoury leesy hints and wet straw nuances. With such a ripe concentrated vintage such as 2025, you get to experience the full breadth and depth of this Old Vine Chenin Blanc that’s expertly balanced with tangy fresh acids, a delicate sweet and sour vibrancy together with a gently Granitic mineral salinity. Supremely harmonious and finely balanced with a majestic textural elegance, this youthful wine should develop an unquestionable starlight personality with a few more years in bottle. This is another superb blockbuster from the historic Bellevue Estate. Drink from 2027 to 2040+. (1,088 bottles produced.)
South Africa’s rich and textured wine history is being reinvigorated by several top classical estates that perhaps slipped off the fine wine radar during the late 1990s and early noughties in the face of a voracious young gun revolution, but which are now finding their feet again as well as the confidence to shout out about the incredible old vines in their possession and the exciting premium cuvées that they have been making of late. For me, few wine estates typify this characterisation more than the historic Bellevue Estate.
In possession of some of the oldest and most treasured old vine material of both Cinsault and Pinotage, Bellevue Estate has remained a bit of a ‘best kept secret’ in the wider SA wine trade partially due to the fact that they sell off small amounts of their incredibly sought after old vine grapes to some very famous producers in the Cape.
Tasting with Bellevue Estate Sales Manager Luan Aucamp.
I recently encountered some of their wines again in London at the Old Vine Conference Tasting 2024 and was blown away by both the quality and precision of their old vine Cinsault and Pinotage. So on a recent trip to South Africa, I took the opportunity to taste through a slightly wider range of their wines produced by Wilhelm Kritzinger who has been at the estate for over 23 vintages, and predictably, I was not disappointed!
Bellevue Estate The Reserve Collection Eselgraf Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
Sourced from estate fruit in the Bottelary Hills from a single vineyard block planted in 1976 which is now Old Vine Certified. The yields annually are circa 1.5 tons per hectare which are fermented in stainless before being transferred to older oak barrels for four months with no bâtonnage and no extended lees contact, and finally racked back into tank to settle prior to bottling. Circa 4,000 bottles per year are produced from this 1.7-hectare block. 2023 represents the maiden release of the new Reserve Range, and before that, the grapes were being blended into the Bellevue Estate range.
This 1976 vineyard offers a tantalising snapshot into the complexities of old vine Chenin Blanc fruit that’s packed with lemon blossom, grated lime peel, white peach, crunchy green pear and orange citrus fruit aromatics over a pronounced dusty granitic minerality laced with dry straw and dried bay leaf spice nuances. The palate entry is deliciously tangy and fresh but also beautifully supple and harmonious with a sleek concentrated mouthcoating texture that shows poise and balance. The peach, quince and green citrus flavours are enticingly rich and intense, imprinting the finish with a truly powerful, fruit driven, honied persistence. An impressive Reserve white Chenin Blanc marked by its majestic old vine character. Drink now and over the next 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue The Reserve Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
A bright vibrant expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from vines on average 30+ year old (block planted 1987), with all fruit picked and safely processed in the cellared before the late 2023 vintage rains arrived. The aromatics are rich and detailed, with lifted perfumed notes of violets, wet tobacco, cigar box, red cherry, and sappy red plum over classic black currant and mulberries nuances. On the palate the texture is taut and sleek, looking very complete and harmonious already with the 60% new 300 litre French oak well integrated with the sappy black currant fruit that’s well balanced by spicy, cedary fine grained mineral tannins and a sumptuously soft, refreshing acidity, with a kiss of cocoa powder on the finish. A very accomplished wine. Drink on release and over the next 10+ years. (Circa 3,500 bottles produced)
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue The Reserve Collection Cabernet Franc 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
Bottelary Hills fruit from a Cabernet Franc block of around 4.36 hectares of over 24 years of age that is considered one of the best examples of Cabernet Franc in Stellenbosch (some of the fruit being sold off), with the 2021 release representing the maiden vintage and this 2022 a more than worthy follow-up act. Tank fermented after a three-day cold soak and then aged in 100% new 300 litre French oak barrels for 24 months. A dense dark opaque plum purple in the glass, the aromatics are rich and heady with opulent notes of sweet cedar spice, earthy black currant, black cherry and hoisin plum sauce, embellished with hints of pink musk and blueberry rock candy. The palate is incredibly dense and well-constructed with exceptional balance and beautiful cultivar typicity. The texture is elegant and sultry, tight knit and spicy with hints of tangy black currant, led pencil sapidity, and an underlying salty cassis-tinged intensity with a black tea and graphite complexity. A very impressive Cabernet Franc that shows a real focused power and prowess but also an incredibly elegant, harmonious precision. Wow, what a special wine! Drink now and over 10 to 12+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Pinotage was first cultivated by Prof A I Perold in around 1925 when he crossed Cinsault and Pinot noir. The first Pinotage cuttings made their way onto Bellevue soil in the early 1950’s when owner PK Morkel was attempting to obtain Gamay Noir for planting. He was not able to find the cultivar he was looking for and approached the Agricultural College at Elsenburg to help. He was advised to try the newly developed variety, called Pinotage. At that stage, there were no commercial plantings of this variety, only experimental vines cultivated by the college. In 1953, together with Paul Sauer from Kanonkop, PK Morkel was one of the first few farmers to plant Pinotage on a commercial scale. His bold step paid off, since Bellevue’s Pinotage was awarded the General Smuts Trophy in 1959, being voted the best young wine on the South African National Young Wine Show out of 1,800 wine entered. To salute the vision of PK Morkel, the Bellevue Estate takes utmost care of this 1953 heritage Pinotage block which is still in production today. It remains the pride and joy of Bellevue, and accordingly, a very special wine is made from this block, called Bellevue 1953 Pinotage.
Bellevue Estate The Reserve Collection Pinotage 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
With such a legacy of fine Pinotage winemaking at the Bellevue Estate, there are no surprises that the Reserve Collection expression represents another incredibly accomplished red wine from the estate. The aromatics are bold and intense, boasting rich complex layers of sweet black plum, ripe mulberries, and sun raisined black cherries before notes of exotic Christmas spices, sweet clove, and sappy cedar nuances. In the mouth, the fruits are rich and creamy on the entry but also vibrant and tangy, revealing an energetic mouth-watering acidity framed by sleek, silky polished tannins. The palate is packed with blue and black berry fruits, black raspberries, and maraschino cherries making for a classically styled Pinotage that is both ripe and hedonistic but also incredibly accessible and generous. Plenty of winemaking know-how on display with this impressive red making it a perfect food accompaniment for charcuterie or chargrilled meat dishes. Drink now to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate The Heritage Collection 1953 Single Vineyard Pinotage 2020, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
The oldest commercial Pinotage in South Africa, that was submitted by the Morkel Family in 1959 to the South African National Young Wine Show and won best Pinotage out of 1,800 wines entered. That same ‘finished wine’ was later sold off to the Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW) which then released that same 1959 vintage wine in 1961, being labelled under the Lanzerac brand that was still owned by SFW at the time. Currently, the Pinotage block is 1.85 hectares leftover from the original 2.7 hectares planted. After 3 to 5 days of cold soaking in tank fermentation commences. After tank fermentation, the wine is transferred to oak to complete malolactic in 300 litre barrels, being a blend of 1st and 2ndfill (circa 50/50) for 18 months. In 2020, 3,940 bottles produced, but the average is normally around 2,500 bottles per year.
One always feels a certain sense of nostalgia and pride when tasting or drinking a wine made from a vineyard that helped define a nation’s winemaking history over the decades. The aromatics on the 2020 vintage 1953 Pinotage are very individual and expressive, revealing a complex cornucopia of black berries, raspberries, spearmint, chocolate peppermint crisp candy bars, dried thyme, and sweet Christmas spices. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied but fabulously plush, textured and mouthcoating, with wonderfully fine-grained tannins that are enveloped by waves of sweet savoury black berry fruits, earthy mulberry, stewed strawberries, dried herbs, and damson plum nuances. The old vine majesty of this vineyard is on full display with this wine, where a rich intricately structured palate shows off its weightless concentration as well as its understated power and intensity, all packaged into a seamlessly accessible block buster of a wine with an impressively long mineral finish. Drink this icon on release or cellar for 15-20+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bellevue Estate The Heritage Collection 1952 Single Vineyard Cinsault 2021, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
The oldest Cinsault vineyard in South Africa is recognized as the Bason vineyard in Wellington that was registered in 1900 but was probably planted even earlier in the late 1890’s. This is followed by the famous Lőtter vineyard in Franschhoek planted 1932, that was for a while vinified by Leeu Passant wines, but which is now under the care of vigneron Lukas van Loggerenberg. There are apparently another two old blocks, one in Stellenbosch planted in 1950 and another in Wellington planted in 1951, and then the Bellevue 1952 heritage block, being the tie 5tholdest in the Cape winelands with a total of 3.8 hectares under vines. Similar to the heritage collection Pinotage, the grapes are tank fermented then transferred to oak barrels, 33% 1st fill / 33% 2nd fill together with 33% going into stainless steel tanks for circa 12 months of ageing before bottling. Spontaneous malolactic occurs in the barrels. 772 bottles were produced in 2021.
The Heritage Collection 1952 Cinsault is a truly majestic wine coming from one of the best vintages in the Cape in over two decades. The long cool harvest has helped preserve all the vibrancy, freshness, and integrity of the old vine fruit. The aromatics are classically fragrant and perfumed with an enticingly seductive red bramble berry fruit profile that shares multiple strands of elegance with top examples of young red Burgundy from the Cotes de Nuits, together with complex and compelling notes of wild strawberry and ripe cranberries, Turkish delight, rose petals, potpourri, wild garrigue herbs, fynbos and a granitic dusty mineral spice. While only medium bodied, the wine portrays an imposing intensity and understated power with tight knit fine grained mineral tannins, a beautifully integrated seamless acidity, and a wonderful pomegranate, blood orange and mixed berry laden length full of freshness, pink musk, and yet more Turkish delight nuances. A seriously profound expression of old vine Cinsault that delivers untold pleasures.
