Celebrate Pinotage with Beyers Truter, 8th of October

Meet the Prince of Pinotage!

Beyers graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1979 with a degree in BSc Agriculture with oenology and viticulture, and initially worked for the Fruit Board as part of his bursary commitments. At 25 years of age he became Kanonkop ’s third winemaker, and arrived at the farm ahead of the 1981 vintage.

Here, Beyers attained a status that no other winemaker anywhere in the world can lay claim to: the Prince of Pinotage.

Since Kanonkop’s first estate vintage in 1973, Pinotage has been one of its focal points, and no serious conversation about Pinotage anywhere excludes the name Kanonkop. This is primarily the result of Beyers’s infatuation with the grape and its wines, as well as his crusade to have the variety recognised as a premium South African wine, capable of standing alongside other great red wines of the world.

When he won the Robert Mondavi Trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 1991 for Best Winemaker in the World, it was the 1989 Kanonkop Pinotage that convinced the judges Beyers was that year’s man of the moment.

The story of Beyers’s wine farm, Beyerskloof , started with a vineyard, planted at a small home farm off the Koelenhof road in Stellenbosch, bought in 1988. The first vineyards that he planted were Cabernet and Sauvignon.

A few years later in 1995, the first Beyerskloof Pinotage was produced and bottled, and one year later, it went on to win the first of many Absa Top 10 Pinotage awards.

From here, Beyerskloof continued to grow, and in 1997, another 100 hectares were bought in the Bottelary Winelands of Stellenbosch.

The landholding increased once again in 2018 with the purchase of another 50 hectares of vineyards known as Kriekbult. These vineyards can be viewed from the deck of the Red Leaf Bistro at Beyerskloof, stretching between the winery and the majestic Simonsberg Mountain.

On the 8th of October, Beyers will lead a tasting of 8 of his Pinotages and tell us all about his incredible journey. He is bringing along his book, which is living legend statement of what passion, hardwork and success without boundries mean.

Ticket includes 8 wines tasting paired with Italian food.

Booking is essential!

TIME: 6.00pm for 6.30pm SHARP!