Full bodied and all smooth lines, Kanonkop's Estate Pinotage is a big, bold and hearty bear wine. Matured in 80% new oak, it tastes of bold purple-red flavours, smoky roasted coconut oak and black spiced cherries. All that rich flavour is capped off by silken but serious tannins, too, just to underline how much of a deadly serious Pinotage this iconic wine we're dealing with.

One of Stellenbosch's most revered wineries, Kanonkop is a family-run estate with a long history of South African classics. Interestingly, the name Kanonkop is derived from a hillock (kop) on the Simonsberg mountain above the wine estate. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a cannon (kanon) was fired to announce the arrival of sailing ships entering Table Bay. What a welcome, eh? There are far fewer cannons these days and much more luscious Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds. Red wine really is the main game (except for a token rosé) at this now fourth-generation winery, with a blue-chip, proudly old-school range that feel familiar, decadent and powerful. In a world flooded with wines of no soul, these unapologetically hearty reds are made to live for generations.