The South African Winery Making World-Class Cabernet Sauvignon

Capensis is unlocking the potential of the king of red grapes in Stellenbosch.

By Mike Desimone And Jeff Jenssen 19/01/2026

While around two-thirds of the wine consumed within U.S. borders are produced domestically, with Italy and France each accounting for around 10 percent of the wine enjoyed by Americans, wine from the Rainbow Nation makes up only 1 percent all the bottles imported into the United States. And although major U.S. cities including New York and Los Angeles boast restaurants or bars specialising in cuisine and beverages from South Africa, even most eateries with enormous, globe-spanning wine lists offer just one or two options from the country.

That may change as Jackson Family Wines, a high-profile producer and winery owner, enters the market with Capensis 2023 Silene Cabernet Sauvignon. Since 2012, Capensis has championed world-class Chardonnay from South Africa, with its acclaimed Fijnbosch, Western Cape, and Stellenbosch expressions leading the way. Now, winemaker Graham Weerts brings that same precision to the brand’s Cabernet Sauvignon, using fruit from Stellenbosch sub-region Helderberg to craft a wine of concentration, texture, and purity. A Cape Town native, Weerts worked in Bordeaux and Sonoma, most recently as winemaker at Stonestreet in Alexander Valley for over a decade, before returning home to South Africa to head up Capensis.

“In the first 15 or so years after apartheid ended, much of the emphasis among South African reds in terms of exports was on Pinotage,” explains Jim Clarke, U.S.A. country manager for Wines of South Africa. Often described as polarising—it is said that people either love it or hate it—Pinotage, a laboratory-derived cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, has long been considered South Africa’s signature red grape, for better or worse. Clarke believes with the attention placed on Pinotage in the early part of this century that there was less of a push for Cabernet and Shiraz, which we know are a much easier sell for wine lovers. Today, however, “Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely South Africa’s most exported red to the U.S. and depending on the year makes up one-quarter to one-third of imports,” Clarke tells Robb Report.

There are plenty of terrific South African Cabernet Sauvignons available in the U.S., but as Clarke points out, many brands from the country are imported only regionally, while Jackson Family has a national presence with wide distribution. He is partial to Cabs from Rust en Vrede, Kanonkop, Keermont, Thelema, Stark-Condé, and Rustenberg, while Weerts calls out Boekenhoutskloof, Rock of Eye, Alto, and Le Riche as those that have really impressed him. “They’re doing some truly great work,” the winemaker says of his competitors. Although there were no plans for Capensis to branch out beyond Chardonnay, Weerts explains that in 2022 while visiting South Africa, JFW Proprietor Barbara Banke was captivated by a glass of Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon while she sampled bottles opened on his kitchen table. “We weren’t even prospecting for Cabernet Sauvignon at the time, but she was so enamoured with that wine that she knew it was what we needed to do next,” he says. Within a few hours, the two were in the car exploring the vineyards of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch.

Weerts believes Stellenbosch is one of the pockets in the world where world-class Cabernet Sauvignon can be grown. “If you think about the great Cabernet regions globally, we have the Margaux region in Bordeaux as well as the Médoc, Napa, parts of Sonoma County, Margaret River in Australia, a few areas in Chile, and Argentina,” he says. “It’s a small grouping of great spots and I think we’re in a very fortunate position to have Stellenbosch, particularly the Helderberg, as one of them.” He says the qualities that makes these pockets so special is the combination of climate, soils, and ocean influence: “It’s similar to Napa with the Bay or the Médoc with the Gironde; these maritime influences, combined with the right soils and topography, create the conditions for exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon.”

Capensis South Africa — World-class Cab can be grown here.Capensis

While his time at Stonestreet working with Alexander Valley fruit let him lean into powerful Cabernets with “formidable” tannic structures that “often need five years or more to truly come into their own,” at Capensis Weerts is focusing on “accentuating drinkability without sacrificing depth or complexity.” He explains that every step of the process there is designed to craft wines that are layered and expressive in addition to being far more approachable at a younger age. He describes the 2023 vintage as complicated, with a dry winter and summer without any heatwaves that gave the wines a distinct mineral edge, but he says an unprecedented rain event dropping more water than the region had ever seen before struck at the end of the season, forcing winemakers to make careful harvest decisions. “Despite these challenges, for us at Capensis, the sites we chose performed exceptionally well,” he says.

Grapes are handpicked and carefully handled, experiencing meticulous hand-sorting before fermentation. The winery is designed so that nothing gets damaged, with no pumping used at this point. “This helps preserve the fruit’s integrity and keeps any green characters away from the fermentation process,” Weerts says.” After a four-day cold soak, slow, controlled fermentation, and 21 days on the skins with daily gentle pump overs, grapes are pressed. After fermentation, the wine is transferred to oak barrels, 30 percent new, for 14 months. The 2023 is made with 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 percent Merlot, and 6 percent Cabernet Franc. Weerts explains that the Merlot brings a “nice, juicy ripeness component to the wine,” while Cabernet Franc adds “lovely floral notes of violets on the nose and overall elegance to a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant-blend.”

“I find South African Cabernet combines the aromatic generosity generally associated with ‘New World’ countries with some of the structure on the palate one looks for in Bordeaux,” says Clarke. “It makes the wines very food friendly, less lush or overdone, and well-suited to aging.” Pointing out that Cabernet has been South Africa’s most-planted red grape since the 1990s and today makes up more than a tenth of the country’s vineyards, he explains that locals in Stellenbosch have considered it their premier grape variety since the 1960s. “Classic Stellenbosch Cabernet threads the needle between generosity and structure, offering immediate pleasure, playing well at the table, and aging with grace,” he says. Because South Africa is a country with many small- and medium-sized wine producers, Clarke reminds us that few of them have the economy of scale to both make great wine and maintain large marketing budgets. “I think having an importer like Jackson Family who has the ear of retailers and sommeliers is a great step forward,” he says.

Capensis 2023 Silene Cabernet Sauvignon is dark ruby in the glass, offering aromas of black cherry, Niçoise olive, and a hint of violet. It is lush in the mouth, with blackberry, purple plum, mocha, and lavender flavors veiled in a sheath of polished tannins. A vivid burst of acidity and a pleasing note of cedar block linger on the tongue.

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