Beeslaar Pinotage 2021

Beeslaar Wines is a small family-run business, specializing in the production of handcrafted, high-end Pinotage wines, originating from a single-vineyard site in the heart of the Cape Winelands.

Abrie was raised in the town of Worcester, situated in a major wine-growing region of the Western Cape, some 120 km’s north-east of Cape Town. Initially he wanted to study medicine, but fate (and the student culture at the University of Stellenbosch) steered him in another direction and I obtained a BSc degree in Viticulture and Oenology in 1997.

His first job was an internship at Windmeul Cellar in northern Paarl, and this was followed by a position at another large co-operative cellar, Swartland Winery in Malmesbury, as assistant winemaker. It was here where he met South Africa’s “King of Pinotage”, Beyers Truter, who regularly visited Swartland to select wines for his own Beyerskloof operation. They quickly realised that their common love for red wine, and more specifically Pinotage, would forge a friendship that continues to this day.

In 2003 he took over the role as winemaker at the world-renowned Kanonkop Estate, also famous for its production of world-class Pinotage wines, which further cemented his belief that South Africa’s national grape is worthy of competing with the best the world has to offer.

In 2011, his dream of making a truly unique Pinotage from a site-specific vineyard, was realised when he was offered the opportunity to work with grapes from a unique parcel of land in the Simonsberg region outside Stellenbosch, and Beeslaar Wines was born.

From the start it was a family affair, with my wife Jeanne (who also hails from a grape farm in the Swartland) in charge of the office administration and logistics. His two children, son Ben and daughter Emma, are often seen lending a helping hand when it comes to preparing orders!