WINE OF THE WEEK: Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage 2021, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£13.99/£10.49, Waitrose

It took me a long time to feature a Pinotage here and now I’ve found another that I like more than enough for it to be Wine of the Week.

Kanonkop Kadette has been around since the mid eighties, but the 2021 vintage seems better than any – more approachable and elegant, perhaps because, apart from being a very good vintage generally in South Africa, it was a cooler year, which brought more finesse to the wines.

There’s a lovely purity and lift to the wine's perfumed raspberry fruit and floral aromas, followed by cappuccino creaminess and silkiness from a year's ageing in second and third-fill French oak barrels. The result is a Pinotage that shows the polished and accessible side of what can be a rumbustious red grape variety.

Made on the Kanonkop estate, but from grapes bought in from other Stellenbosch growers, Kadette serves as Kanonkop’s second wine – an introduction to the flagship red wine of this fourth-generation family estate. The vines are seven to 22 years old.

It would fly with steak or a burger on a barbecue, but the meat could just as well be lamb, pork belly or sausages. And it doesn’t have to be meat. It would be good with roast spiced butternut squash, pumpkin and cheese gratin, stuffed peppers or pizza. It can handle a bit of spice, too. And, going back to meatier food, it would go with moussaka, spicy roast duck legs or confit chicken livers. 14%.

Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage 2021, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£13.99, Waitrose, where there’s 25% off on any 6 or more bottles of wine and Champagne priced between £6 and £100 until June 4; Majestic has the previous vintage (£13.99, mix six), but will be moving on to the 2021.

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