Paul Sauer

Kanonkop Estate Produce One of the Wines of the Vintage with Their Paul Sauer 2022 Release…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

With Abrie Beeslaar departing the Kanonkop Estate in August 2024, we are nearing the end of his winemaking stewardship. The 2022 vintage offered up a cold and wet winter which was ideal for late but even vine budding. The wetter and cooler weather in the Cape persisted through Spring, with a slight heat spike towards the end of January. Later veraison and cooler growing conditions made the 2022 vintage a memorable one for the Kanonkop team with structured, elegant, age worthy wines produced.

Grapes for the Paul Sauer were fermented in open top concrete fermenters at 29c, the floating skins punched down by hand every 2 hours during fermentation. The juice was drawn off the skins after 5 days. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was matured for 24 months in 100% new 225 litre French Nevers oak barrels before bottling.

Kanonkop Estate Paul Sauer 2022 Cape Bordeaux Blend, WO Simonsberg, Stellenbosch, 13.35% Abv. 

I tasted this new release Paul Sauer several times at Cape Wine 2025 in September but finally found a quiet moment on my return to London to open a sample bottle that had been settling in my cellar for several weeks. This is a big, powerful cuvee and young vintages are easily interfered with and often suffer bottle shock. But on opening, this classy blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Cabernet Franc and 18% Merlot was absolutely singing. Plush, textured, and multi-layered, the aromatics showed a newfound clarity, purity and intensity boasting saline crème de cassis, back cherries, blueberry, maritime kelp, iodine, and black liquorice with an underlying new French oak kiss. Sourced from six older blocks on the estate, the palate shows a vibrant freshness together with an opulent accessibility before tightening up on the long, saline finish that’s layered and harmonious with tart black currant, damson plum and spiced cranberry nuances. Elegant, seamless, and pretty profound, this is undoubtedly another must-buy vintage for Paul Sauer lovers. Drink from 2026 to 2048+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Kanonkop Estate wines are imported into the UK by exclusive agent Seckford Agencies.

Kanonkop Estate Prepare to Release Possibly One of Their Most Iconic Vintages Ever – Tasting the New Paul Sauer 2021…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

It’s always a very special occasion visiting the Kanonkop Estate to taste new releases. In many ways, it’s the closest we get in South Africa to the annual pilgrimages European wine merchants make to iconic wineries like Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux or Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. However many times you visit, it always remains a highlight of the year and my recent visit to taste the new Kanonkop Paul Sauer was no exception.

The new 2021 Paul Sauer due for general release in June 2024.

While Abrie Beeslaar has obviously already produced a 2022, 2023 and 2024 vintage, the iconic 2021 will be his swansong release before he departs his full time role in August 2024. Undoubtedly, like the two winemakers before him, Abrie will remain as much part of Kanonkop’s history as Kanonkop will remain part of Abrie’s. He will of course have vintages like the 2004, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2017 and now the epic 2021 to look back on with immeasurable pride. Groete ou maat en alles van die beste!

We are going to miss you Abrie!

Kanonkop Estate Paul Sauer 2021 Cape Bordeaux Blend, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Paul Sauer is beautifully intense and utterly seductive, the aromatics pulling you in with their perfumed notes of incense, violets, black currant, saline oyster shell, black cherry, sweet cherry tobacco and graphite with subtle blueberry notes and a subtle kiss of sweet cedar and vanilla pod spice. The palate shows sprawling breadth and depth with a gentle picante spice together with a noticeably intense salinity and maritime, nori seaweed nuance before more bold flavours of black currant, mulberry, black cherry and blueberry coat the mouth. The fine silky tannins are deceptively taut and crisp with the fresh glassy acids adding to the wine’s obvious power, focus and superb intensity. So much wine in the glass, so much to assimilate! The 2021 Paul Sauer represents a true Cape Bordeaux blend masterclass once again from Abrie Beeslaar! Drink from 2025 to 2050+.

(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kanonkop Estate’s Iconic Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Represents One of Their Finest Single Cultivar Releases To Date…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

In 2023, Kanonkop (owned by the fourth generation of the founding family, brothers Johann and Paul Krige) celebrated 50 years of wine with the inaugural release being the 1973 vintage of their single cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon. Joining in 2002, Abrie Beeslaar became only the third winemaker in the farm’s history, replacing Beyers Truter (1981-2003) who followed Kanonkop’s first official winemaker Jan Boland Coetzee (1968-1981). Of the estate’s 95ha of mainly dry-farmed vines, 35% are Cabernet Sauvignon, averaging 30 years old, from Simonsberg in Stellenbosch, used for their varietal Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée as well as the Kanonkop flagship Paul Sauer Cape Bordeaux blend.

In 1973, the Kanonkop cellar crushed around 1,000 tonnes of grapes, of which 200 tonnes were vinified and bottled under their own label, with the first bottlings consisting of a single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage. Today, the cellar processes 3,000 tonnes of grapes, 580 from the Kanonkop estate and the rest from 22 different growers contracted across Stellenbosch. In early 2024, Abrie Beeslaar announced that he would be leaving Kanonkop to focus on his own wine label Beeslaar, thus once again resurrecting succession plans for only the winery’s fourth winemaker since 1968.

Kanonkop Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, WO Simonsberg – Stellenbosch, 13.68% Abv.

3.2g/l RS | 6.1g/l TA | 3.48pH

The 2019 vintage in the Cape yielded another iconic Paul Sauer Cabernet Sauvignon (69%) based Cape Bordeaux blend. From the very moment of its final assemblage, all eyes were on its later release sibling, Kanonkop’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, such was the power, freshness and intensity inherent in the Paul Sauer 2019 blend. Produced from 30-year-old vines which are nearing old vine heritage status, grown on dry land vineyards on decomposed Granite, Hutton and Clovelly soils, the wine was matured for 24 months in 225-litre French Never oak barrels with a 50% new oak portion and a 50% second fill portion. From the very first nosing of the glass, the aromatics are incredibly vibrant, lifted, and expressive with enticing perfumed notes of pressed violets and purple flowers over saline crème de cassis, black cherry liquor, macerated plums, oyster shell, moist cherry tobacco and beautifully integrated notes of subtle sweet cedary oak and seductive vanilla pod spice. Medium bodied and initially quite weightless, lithe and supple in the mouth on entry, before a massive shock wave of intense black cherry, salty black currant, graphite, and tart blueberry fruits invigorate the senses, making the palate salivate with its bright refreshing acids and intense mouthwatering persistence. This is an exceptionally well-made single cultivar wine with intricate pinpoint tannins, tart sweet-sour acids, a piercing fruit concentration and the most harmoniously seamless structure possible. It has all the elegance, focus and poise of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vins of the world. Drink from 2024 to 2044+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The iconic Kanonkop Estate wines are imported into the UK exclusively by Seckford Wine Agencies. The Kanonkop wines are available for retail from specialist South African merchant Museum Wines and the Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 will retail at circa £44 per bottle.

Kanonkop Wine Estate’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Arrives In the UK Market…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

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.

Tasting the new vintages in London with Abrie Beeslaar.

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.

Stellenbosch Icon Winery Kanonkop Prepare for the Release of Their Paul Sauer Cape Bordeaux Blend 2019…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The new releases of Kanonkop Paul Sauer and Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon are regarded as two of the wine highlights of the year with merchants scurrying around for trade allocations, collectors chasing their merchants for stock and enthusiastic drinkers waiting for the first bottles to hit the retail shelves of their local fine wine shops. While the reputation within the local home market can hardly be higher, internationally, every year sees a new crop of fine wine collectors discovering the exceptional Kanonkop brands and making space in their cellars for these classical age worthy wines. It is no different for the 2019 Paul Sauer new release which has already created a lot of excitement and anticipation in multiple markets.

Winemaker Abrie Beeslaar was recently in London and I had an opportune moment to taste and discuss the new 2019 Paul Sauer release with him. Abrie remembers the vintage being cast in the shadow of the previous years of drought leading to a challenging growing season but one which ultimately yielded a very classically-styled Paul Sauer with plenty of focused refinement.

The cold fronts that arrived during the winter of 2018 were greatly welcomed with spring and early summer temperatures nudging the deep 20°C for a day or three before dropping again. From February 2019 a hot spell settled in but by the time the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc were ready to harvest, the weather had turned uncharacteristically cool again which helped produce one of the lowest alcohol Paul Sauers in many years. With Kanonkop’s new(ish) optical berry sorter hard at work, only the healthiest berries made it to the concrete fermenters. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc components were blended after malolactic fermentation where after the wine was placed in new 225l French oak barrels for 24 months ageing.

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2019 Cape Bordeaux Blend, WO Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, 13.02% Abv.

3.3G/l RS | 5.8g/l TA | 3.45 pH

This classically styled Paul Sauer 2019 is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot. After noticeably more fruit forward aromatics on the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 on release, this 2019 represents somewhat of departure in style with a decidedly tight, broody aromatic profile of inky dark berry fruits, iodine, crushed gravel, Bouquet Garni, dried herbs, sweet clove and graphite before subtle hints of pithy black currant and black cherry join the party and mingle with perfumed notes of pressed violets and lilac. Despite its 24 months in 100% new French Never oak 225 litre barriques, there is only a mere suggestion of wood influence with a beautifully refined cedar spice and unsmoked cigar nuances. On the palate, the results of a cooler and smaller harvest manifest themselves through a distinctly classical Old World restraint, purity, wound spring tension and supremely refined tannins that linger on the palate with seamless precision. As with many longer, cooler Bordeaux vintages, there is more a sense of concentration and power rather than an actual overt textural display, with sinewy black fruits, cocoa powder and earthy, brambly layers concertinaed by lively acids and yet more overt minerality. An impressive creation indeed that will benefit from a good 8 to 10 years in the cellar to fully blossom despite its textural finesse, balance and accessibility.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Iconic Kanonkop Wine Estate Prepares for the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Release…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

A wine always released several months after the famed Paul Sauer Cape Bordeaux blend, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is yet another highly anticipated wine based on the clear established pedigree of the vintage. I am fortunate enough to have drunk several bottles of the 2015 and 2016 Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon over the past few months in preparation for the 2017 release together with enjoying yet another blind 1994 Paul Sauer vs 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon taste-off recently.

With production levels for the Cabernet roughly double that of the now highly allocated Paul Sauer blend, at circa 12,000 cases of 6 compared to 6,000, the new release of the Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon does present a slighty wider opportunity for fine wine drinkers and collectors alike to secure some bottles for their cellar. Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon is riding high and demand across all international markets for the top producers’ wines has never been higher thanks to not only a strong run of quality vintages but also the renewed promotional work of a cohesive group of premium producers.

The preceding winter was the 3rd dry one in a row, with less rain than the previous one and warmer day and night temperatures. A warm spring resulted in early budding and regular rain showers during flowering and berry set saw a high presence of pests. The picking season was very dry with limited water for irrigation, but with cooler nigh-time temperatures during February. Fermentation took place in open top concrete fermenters at 29c. The cap was punched down by hand every 2 hours during fermentation. The juice was then drawn off the skins after 5 days. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was matured for 24 months in 50% new and 50% second fill 225L French Nevers oak barrels.

Kanonkop Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, WO Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, 14.97% Abv.

2.7 g/l RS | 6.3 g/l TA | 3.47 pH | VA 0.51 g/l

This certainly is a deep, broody exotic expression of Cabernet Sauvignon that is more reminiscent of a cool vintage Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon than anything from Bordeaux or the Cape. Opened and tasted over 4 to 5 hours, the wine hits its stride surprisingly quickly with plenty of perfumed purple flowers, violets, bruleed black berries, baked blueberry crumble, crème de cassis and a pleasing note of mocha and vanilla pod spice. Initial notes of kelp and maritime seashore salinity quickly give way to a more weighty, sensual melange of black berry compote nuances and hints of cherry kirsch liquor. While this wine certainly shows all the deft elegance and finesse we associate with the 2017 vintage, it also displays a certain extra gravitas, power and weight of fruit concentration combined with great poise, density and a seamlessly textured mineral graphite finish. This is a dark horse that will drink well on release and age deceptively well for 20+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Imported into the UK wine trade by Seckford Wine Agencies.

Ps. This review is dedicated to the mighty South African Springbok Rugby World Champions who scored a historic victory against New Zealand in Australia in their 101st test match contest. 🙏🏼

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2018 – The New Release of This South African Icon Wine Reviewed…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 5 Comments

With so many of South Africa’s top Cape Bordeaux Blends and Cabernet Sauvignon producers stepping up to the mark to produce their best wines ever across the 2015 and 2017 vintages, 2018 was always going to be under the spotlight to see if some of the magic of these previous vintages could be applied by winemakers to the benefit of the final wines.

Certainly, the winter rainfall was higher than the previous two winters but with irregular temperatures from winter until the flowering period, together with cool growing conditions, there were inevitably some variations in ripening across the Simonsberg vineyards. However, cooler weather and regular rain showers led to less water stress for the vines during the ripening period.

Having tasted most of the top 2018 Cape Bordeaux blends now, the signature style and characteristics of the vintage are becoming clearer and clearer – Very cool, precise wines with impressively glassy acid frames, silky powdery tannins, impressive fruit intensity but without the 2015’s inky dry extract or the 2017’s weightless fruit concentration. The 2018s are very attractive wines, more classically leaning with a little less exoticism but plenty of the traditional characteristics on the aromatics and palate that have made the wines so popular with French Bordeaux collectors and connoisseurs around the world.

The grapes for the 2018 Paul Sauer were fermented in open top concrete fermenters at 29 deg C with the floating skins being punched down by hand every 2 hours during fermentation. The juice was drawn off the skins after 5 days. After malolactic fermentation the wine was matured for 24 months in 100% new 225 litre French Nevers oak barriques.

With only 7,000 cases or 42,000 bottles produced, stake your marker in the allocation queue nice and early as this iconic wine seems to sell out faster and faster every year. This of course is the reward for a proven pedigree and quality track record.

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2018, WO Simonsberg – Stellenbosch, 13.91% Abv.

2.4 g/l RS | 6.2 TA | 3.55 pH | 90 mg/l Total SO2 | 0.63 g/l VA

The 2018 Paul Sauer is a classical blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc from vines averaging 30 years of age grown on dryland vineyards of Decomposed Granite and Hutton and Clovelly soils. Vibrant and ruby / purple, the wine almost glows in the glass with inviting promise. At this youthful stage, the Cabernet Sauvignon component shines through strongly revealing a generally dark, broody, black fruited demeanour embellished with subtle notes of saline crème de cassis, star anise, lead pencil shavings, dried violets and signature nuances of freshly tilled earth, buttered brown toast and hints of breakfast espresso. In the mouth, the palate shows gorgeous elegance, purity and fruit focus with the most fine grained filigree tannins, soothingly generous black berry fruits and delicious mouth-watering acids. This wine is precision personified showing such effortless grace and harmony together with a measured power and intensity. The 2018 is certainly a very classically schooled expression that waltzes across the palate without ever putting a foot out of place. Like all truly great Bordeaux blends, this has the finesse and textural harmony to drink on release but also the intensity and gravitas to age effortlessly for 20 to 30+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Blazing It’s Own Trail of Greatness in the World of Fine Wine…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I can’t deny that I have said it many times across many media platforms that when it comes to truly great, great red wines, nothing beats a blend. Well, ok… maybe a bottle of Domaine de la Romanee Conti Grand Cru Romanee Conti is about as famous and site specific as you can get for a single varietal icon.

But with Bordeaux blends, the whole is almost always greater than the sum of its parts. So when you consider a phenomenal wine like Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015, rated 98/100 GSMW on this site (and also South Africa’s first 100/100 point wine from critic Tim Atkin MW), it does make you ponder the greatness of the Cabernet Sauvignon component of this famous wine. Always set for a release at least 12+ months or more after the Paul Sauer blend, I managed to get a sneak peak of the newly bottled Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon… set for general release in October 2019 in the local South African market.

 

Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Stellenbosch

A wine with this level of anticipation needs time and consideration. This wine was opened and tasted several times over a matter of hours and my conclusions were all the same. We are in the presence of greatness, a creation that is an absolute thing of vinous beauty that is certainly unrivalled in quality since the famous 2004 Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon that controversially trumped the Paul Sauer 2004 to win the Platter Red Wine of the Year. At this super youthful stage of its development, this wine is all about the future potential and not many other South African red wines have the track record that Kanonkop has. From the block buster 2015 vintage, the newly bottled Cabernet Sauvignon reveals an incredibly restrained and self assured bouquet of black raspberries, fallen leaves, wet tobacco, freshly tilled earth and a tantalising note of graphite, Chinese black tea, dried violets and cigar box. Despite its intensity in the mouth, the wine retains a classy and classical textural demeanour with a medium bodied weight but also silky smooth sweet tannins and layer upon layer of crunchy red and black fruits. Incredibly finely proportioned and crisply chiselled, the palate slowly shows extra dimensions of saline cassis, baking chocolate, espresso roast, sweet cedar spice and just the most subtle hints of red plum skins and thyme spice on the finish. Architecturally, this has the shape and precision of a majestic Sir Norman Foster sky scraper that towers above its neighbours. Never over worked, never over oaked, this is surely one of the greatest single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon’s produced in South Africa.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Most Hotly Anticipated Red Wine Release from the 2015 Vintage – Tasting Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015, South Africa’s Very Own First Growth…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

The Kanonkop Estate is situated on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain in the Stellenbosch Region of the Cape and consistently boasts some of South Africa’s most famous premium wines. A fourth generation family estate, Kanonkop was originally purchased by JW Sauer, a cabinet member in the parliament of the Union of South Africa and the estate has been handed down from father to son for over 40 years, now residing in the capable hands of its current owners Paul & Johann Krige.

The name Kanonkop was derived from a kopje (hillock), from which a cannon was fired in the 17th Century to alert farmers in outlying areas that sailing ships plying the waters between Europe and the Far East had entered Table Bay for a stopover at Cape Town. The Estate is situated on 125 hectares, of which 100 hectares are planted with vines. A small quantity of these red grapes are selected for the production of around 7,000 cases of 6 of the Estate’s flagship red Bordeaux blend Paul Sauer, produced by one of South Africa’s most intelligent winemakers, Abrie Beeslaar.

A traditional blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, the vines are on average 25 years old grown on decomposed Granite, Hutton and Clovelly soils and usually aged around 24 months in new 225 litre French Nevers oak barrels with medium toast.

Kanonkop Wine Estate Paul Sauer 2015, 14 Abv.

The goal with any vintage of Paul Sauer is to find the perfect balance between power and concentration, structure and freshness… allowing a certain amount of tamed accessibility combined with immaculate ageworthy credentials. Indeed, this is the DNA which has allowed a wine like Paul Sauer to become firmly established as one of South Africa’s most respected ‘first growths.’ Given the incredible opulence and concentration of the 2015 vintage, this expression dazzles the senses with the most alluring heady nose of sun dried cherries, black currant pastille sweets, blueberries, plummy hoisin sauce, cedar spice and fragrant violets. There is intensity, an abundance of concentration and impressively integrated wood spice, salted toffee and vanilla pod complexity. The acid-fruit equilibrium is perfectly balanced, wrapped in a velvety cherry kirsch liquor texture and a finely focused blueberry and juniper berry finish. Truly effortless class and so beautifully light on its feet with the most suave, polished tannin symmetry. I cannot think of a better expression of Paul Sauer than this 2015 in the past 25 years of tasting. This is possibly one of the finest South African red wines of my generation. Drink from 2022 to 2055+.

(Wine Safari Score: 98+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)