Wine Of The Week 3: Kaapzicht Skraalhans Pinotage 2022

Things are changing in the Bottelary. Located on the fringe of Stellenbosch, there’s a feeling of being out of the fray. A country idyll washes across the sunlight-drenched hills. Tractors, not Porsches. This is real farming country. Tilled soil like a bloodline goes back centuries, the original farms granted in 1679 by governor Simon van der Stel.

Though, like all generational concerns, change and progress are inevitable. The Steytler family of Kaapzicht has been farming here since 1946, advocating pinotage for most of that time.

Cape pinotage

Historically, Bottelary Hills can boast the first commercial planting of the pinotage grape in 1953 at Bellevue Estate; remarkably this vineyard is still in production today.

Kaapzicht wasn’t far behind. Pinotage took root on “Cape View” farm in 1959, and since then has played an integral role in the estate’s offering. Third-generation winemaker, Danie Steytler Junior, took the helm in 2009. From a large offering, the incumbent has whittled it down and zeroed in on pinotage and chenin (the farm’s other historic grape). He’s also revamped the packaging, bringing it firmly into the present. This is especially true for the Terroir range, wherein each wine tells a story unique to the Kaapzicht farm.

Kaapzicht Skraalhans Pinotage 2022

One of these Terroir wines is the new-wave Skraalhans Pinotage. Tongue-in-cheek skraal (skinny in English), this wine favours the lighter, more elegant side of the grape’s parentage (cinsault and pinot noir). Fittingly, Skraalhans is also what the Steytlers call a long, lean and gangly weed found in their vineyards, which they say often grows taller than the vines themselves.

In a bid for freshness and slightly lower alcohol, grapes were picked earlier than for Kaapzicht’s more traditional pinotage. Maturation in old oak barrels (500 litres) to allow the fruit to shine through; and what juicy, lovely fruit it is. Red and black cherries, mulberries, some blueberries, with vivid sour cherry acidity and pillow-soft tannins that all but melt into the sappy fruit riot.

As a food pairing, Danie recommends sticky char siu pork with rice and Asian greens. “We had a version of this dish in Hong Kong and immediately thought that all it was missing was a light red instead of a beer. Turns out we were right.”

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