Bordeaux Collection
Kanonkop, Rustenberg 1990, 1996
South African Wines
About the SessionThe South African session brings together a selection of the Cape’s most historic and celebrated wines, spanning decades of winemaking heritage. From Kanonkop, Meerlust and Rustenberg to Klein Constantia and Thelema, the collection showcases landmark Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux-style blends and the iconic Vin de Constance, offering collectors a rare opportunity to explore some of South Africa’s most enduring and influential wines across multiple vintages.
LOT 133
Bordeaux Collection
Kanonkop, Rustenberg 1990, 1996
About this Item
Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
Rustenberg Peter Barlow 1996
A rare flight of Cape Cabernet from the 1990s, drawn from two of Stellenbosch’s greatest estates and seldom seen at this age. Kanonkop’s 1990, from the Krige family’s Simonsberg estate so often called the first growth of Stellenbosch, is a piece of Cape history that critics still find holding its dark fruit and cigar-box perfume after more than three decades. Rustenberg’s Peter Barlow 1996, a single-vineyard Cabernet from the Simonsberg farm the Barlow family has owned since 1941, was hailed by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate as perhaps the finest red it had ever tasted from South Africa.
Provenance
Single-Owner Private Collection
Critics Ratings
Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
"In a wide optimum drinking window, the '90 holds generous, rich dark fruit in its core, broadened by the typical pencil lead and cigar box, with subtle hints of dried herbs adding further interest. Wonderfully integrated and harmonious, the palate is silky and fine, but with sufficient stuffing for further keeping." - Higgo Jacobs, 95/100 (Mar 2026)
"100% Cabernet. These generally sturdy, long-lived cabernets, deriving richness and power – rather than smooth elegance – from excellent, mature vines and consistent cellar treatment … 1990 surprisingly good – though more one-dimensional – for the vintage." - Platter's SA Wine Guide 1994, 4*
Rustenberg Peter Barlow 1996
"The 1996 Peter Barlow, a single vineyard wine from 7 year old vines harvested at a whopping six tons per acre, may be the finest red wine I have ever tasted from South Africa. It possesses a beguiling nose crammed with red/black cherries that are intermingled with super-ripe blackberries and cookie dough. On the palate, it is tight, highly structured, concentrated, serious, has excellent depth of fruit, superb focus, and is highly refined. Violets, assorted flowers, red berries, and cassis are found in this fabulous wine. Its finish is long, full of flavor, and reveals well-ripened tannins. It is extremely youthful, reminiscent of a first-rate young wine from a warm vintage in Bordeaux's Medoc." - Pierre Rovani, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 92/100 (Jan 2000)
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