2016 Black Label Pinotage
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Pinotage Black Label has quite an opulent and generous bouquet, luscious with black cherries, raspberry, fynbos and leather, though it lacks the complexity and personality of the 2015. The palate is better with a gamey entry, a fine bead of acidity, veering much more to the red fruit spectrum laced with white pepper, allspice and clove. Very fine definition on the finish with the sapidity to beckon you back for another sip.
Critic scores
Average Score
Tim Jackson MW, jancisrobinson.com
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Single plot of 64-year-old, dry-farmed bush vines, on decomposed granite and Hutton soils, harvested at 2.8 t/ha. Fermentation in open concrete fermenters at 28 °C, with manual punchdowns every two hours. Juice drawn off skins after three and a half days. 18 months in new, 225-litre French Nevers oak, mainly from Vicard. TA 5.6 g/l, pH 3.69, RS 4 g/l, VA 0.8 g/l, total SO 2 89 mg/l, free SO 2 30 mg/l . Mid ruby. Jammy, sweet red fruit with vanilla and a spicy edge. Soft, rich palate with tannins that will likely resolve to a velvet texture. Plenty of volume, with alcohol there as well. Plump and full, even if not the most refined. Reminds me a little of 2016 Vin de Constance in that respect. (TJ)
The 2016 Black Label Pinotage was matured for 18 months in 100% new Vicard French oak and represents Kanonkop’s top Pinotage cuvée . It has a very refined bouquet of blackberry, red cherries, licorice and a touch of menthol. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, and as usual, it seems to suck up that new oak effortlessly. Rounded and quite sensual toward the finish, this is a gorgeous Pinotage (no oxymoron!) that really demonstrates what this grape variety can do in the right hands.