The Wine Reference🍷 SupportWestern Cape: South African brandy (potstill brandy)
The Cape has made grape brandy since 1672, and today its potstill brandies regularly beat Cognac at international competitions. Most distilleries sit in the Stellenbosch and Worcester areas.
How it's made
Potstill brandy must be at least 90% double-distilled potstill spirit, aged at least three years in oak casks under 340 litres. Blended brandy needs at least 30% potstill brandy. Ageing is checked by the state.
Base wine, mostly from Chenin Blanc and Colombard, is distilled twice in copper pot stills to make potstill brandy. Column-still spirit is also made, but only for blended brandy and vintage brandy.
History
The first brandy at the Cape was distilled in 1672 on a Dutch ship in Table Bay. Cheap, rough 'Cape smoke' gave it a poor name until the 1900s, when René Santhagens brought Cognac methods and KWV and the state introduced strict rules in the 1920s.
Ageing and label terms
Potstill brandy needs at least three years in oak casks of under 340 litres; most premium bottles are 10, 12, 15 or 20 years old. Vintage brandy needs at least eight years and at least 30% potstill brandy.
Styles
Three legal categories: blended brandy (easy-drinking, for mixing), vintage brandy, and potstill brandy (the top category, at least 90% potstill).
Rules and protected names
Ageing and blending are controlled by law and checked by the state; South African brandy must be at least 38% ABV.
How to serve and classic cocktails
Potstill brandy is sipped neat; blended brandy is famously drunk with cola ('brandy and Coke') and suits a Brandy Alexander or Sidecar.
With food
Biltong, dried fruit, dark chocolate and malva pudding.
Good to know
The Western Cape Brandy Route links distilleries from Stellenbosch to Worcester, home of KWV's large cellars with over 100 copper pot stills.
Producers
- KWV
- Van Ryn's
- Oude Meester
- Klipdrift
- Boplaas
Bottles to try
KWV 10 Year Old Brandy
Dried apricot, honey and toasted oak, with a soft nutty finish.
Strength: 38% · Age and cask: 10 years, French oak
A 100% potstill brandy from KWV, the former Cape wine cooperative in Paarl whose Worcester cellar holds one of the largest collections of copper pot stills in the world. A good-value introduction to aged Cape brandy.
Serve: Neat in a tulip glass, or with one ice cube
Van Ryn's 12 Year Old Distiller's Reserve
Vanilla, caramel, dried fruit and floral notes, silky and long.
Age and cask: 12 years, French oak
Made at the Van Ryn's distillery near Stellenbosch, founded in 1905, which still coopers casks on site. A single potstill brandy that has won many trophies at the international spirits competitions.
Serve: Neat after dinner
Klipdrift Export
Warm and fruity: dried apricot, caramel and gentle oak spice.
Strength: 43%
Klipdrift was first distilled by J.P. Marais on his Klipdrift farm near Robertson in 1938. Export is the fuller, stronger version of South Africa's best-known brandy brand.
Serve: With cola, the South African way, or with ginger ale
Also a wine region: Stellenbosch wine guide.
More brandy regions
Explore all spirits in the interactive guide
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