Located in the soon to be certified new Eerste River ward merely 5 kilometres from the False Bay ocean on the southern side of Stellenbosch along Baden Powell Drive in Lynedoch, Winshaw Vineyards has quietly built a reputation for red wines that capture the soul of this storied Cape wine region. Here, ancient Granite soils and cooling Atlantic breezes create the perfect tension between ripeness and restraint, allowing a cool climate balance and freshness that defines every bottle in their premium red wine collection.
The flagship reds draw on Stellenbosch’s classic varietals, namely bold, structured Cabernet Sauvignon with notes of blackcurrant and cedar; velvety plush Merlot layered with plum and dark chocolate; and elegantly red fruited Cabernet Franc, making expressive Bordeaux-style blends that marry power with elegance. Each vintage is shaped by their meticulous hand-harvesting, low-yielding vines, and extended barrel maturation in French oak, coaxing out an impressive level of complexity.
In the Winshaw vineyards with Pierre Winshaw.
What sets the Winshaw Vineyards premium range apart is a commitment to terroir-driven winemaking, selecting only the very best fruit from their circa 50 hectares of vines and minimal intervention winemaking in the cellar that lets the character of the land speak for itself. For those seeking a taste of Stellenbosch’s world-class red winemaking heritage, the Winshaw Vineyards premium reds offer both artisanal craftsmanship, quality and a genuine sense of place, vintage after vintage.
Winshaw Vineyards Malbec 2025, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
This must be one of the most consistently high quality Malbec wines produced in South Africa. Year after year the Winshaw brothers make a rich, purple coloured expression packed full of red and black berry fruits, delicate Christmas spices with the cultivar’s archetypal sweet sapidity tightly interwoven into the wine’s fabric. The 2025 shows massive concentration, a silky plush textural luxuriousness framed by fresh acids and a long, effortless black berry laden finish with a delicate kiss of vanilla oak spice. Simply delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Winshaw Vineyards Bill Winshaw 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
A blend of 63% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, shows seductive perfumed notes of red currants and black cherry with an overlay of salty black liquorice, graphite and sweet salted caramel oak hints. This wine has the depth of a fine Bordeaux blend combined with the elegance of a premium Cabernet Franc. A beautifully classy expression. Drink now to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Winshaw Vineyards Charles Winshaw 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, this classically styled Cabernet Sauvignon led expression shows archetypal aromatics of violets, black cherry and black currant compote with hints of graphite, sweet cedar and wet loam nuances. The palate is decidedly denser and riper than the Bill Winshaw blend, showing notes of stewed black plum, light silky tannins, caramelised black berries, and a delicately mineral vein that continues with persistence to the finish. Plenty of substance or “gras” as the French would say, making this the stand out wine in the Winshaw range in 2023. Drink now to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Winshaw wines are imported exclusively into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines based in Salisbury.
The Etna Rosso wines, built primarily around Nerello Mascalese with a splash of Nerello Cappuccio, ages more like Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir than a typical southern Italian red. Its pale colour and firm tannin-acid backbone are deceptive – the wines have real structure beneath a fragile-looking surface. Young Etna Rosso shows red cherry, wild strawberry, and volcanic basaltic minerality, often with a smoky, ashy edge from the soil. Over 8–15 years, the fruit shifts toward dried cherry, orange peel, and forest floor, while tannins soften and the wine gains a translucent, garnet hue. High-altitude vineyards and old, ungrafted vines (many over a century old, planted on their own volcanic roots) tend to produce the most age-worthy examples, with the acidity of the terrain acting as a natural preservative.
Etna Bianco, dominated by Carricante, is one of Italy’s most underrated ageable whites. Young versions can seem austere, showing citrus, green apple, and saline minerality, but within 5 to 10 years, they develop a honeyed, waxy, almost Chablis-like complexity, retaining remarkable freshness thanks to their high natural acidity and elevation-driven diurnal swings. This ability to age gracefully sets Etna Bianco apart from most Sicilian whites, which are typically made for early drinking.
Salvino doing a vintage masterclass in London.
The Benanti Winery, one of the estates most responsible for reviving Etna’s reputation in the 1990s, makes a strong case study for this longevity. Their single-vineyard wines: Rovittello and Serra della Contessa for Rosso, and Pietramarina for Bianco – are built specifically with cellaring in mind. Pietramarina in particular is renowned for improving for well over a decade, its Carricante freshness gaining an added texture and nutty depth while never losing its volcanic edge. Tasting older Benanti vintages reveals wines that don’t just survive time but are transformed by it, proof that Etna’s mountain terroir, more than any winemaking trickery, is the true source of its ageability.
Benanti Archive Vintage Notes:
Benanti Etna Bianco 2020, 12% Abv.
Bold and taut with an expressive maritime salinity, savoury flor style salty aromatics, crunchy green pears and yellow apples. The palate show lovely concentration and richness, piquant basaltic spice and herby sweet sour intensity. Lovely depth with a long, seductively white peach finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Bianco 2019, 12% Abv.
Quite a taut, mineral aromatic profile with citrus peel, white blossom and maritime sea breeze salinity. The palate is bright, crisp and steamy, erring on the leaner, more linear style of Carricante.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Bianco 2017, 12.5% Abv.
Fragrant lifted, perfumed nose with bold notes of crunchy green pear, green apple pastille, chamomile tea and flinty, mineral, white peach notes. The creamy textured palate has bright acidity, pithy tart green apple and unripe orange peel spice notes. Lovely balance with a fine mellow mineral complexity.
From bush trained Carricante vines planted at 800 metres. Fermentation and ageing all in stainless steel using indigenous yeasts. The aromatics are sweet fruited and piercing, boasting honey suckle, Wriggleys bubblegum, green apple, yellow stone fruits and hints of wet straw. The palate is dry and pithy, the acidity bright and steely, structured, taut and beautifully linear and saline with hints of oyster shell and basalt. The finish is crystalline and pure, beautifully balanced and harmonious with focus and intensity.
Lovely savoury aromatics with hints of wet basalt, oat meal, lemon pith, oyster shell, crushed gravel, dried kelp and sea breeze nuances. Vibrant, mineral and rasping, there’s a brightness, freshness and energy over a restrained, briney wet stone, mineral bitter lemon, quinine persistence that leads you to a long, maritime-tinged finish. Classical and classy.
From the village of Milo, which allows it the Superiore designation, this is made in stainless steel fermented with propagated indigenous yeasts from their vineyards, left on lees for 12 months with stirring followed by an additional 6 months in bottle. The nose displays notes of yellow orchard fruits, an oxidative leesy salinity and a honey suckle, “sun wine” savoury character. More breath and textural depth of restrained fruit weight too than the straight Bianco but finished bone dry with a twang of rock salt. Very young but should develop beautifully.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vertical tasting of Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore ‘Pietra Marina’:
Wines from the unique site of Milo located on the eastern slopes of Etna at 800 metres of altitude.
A beautifully aromatic white with intricate notes of white flowers, freshly sliced pear, delicately savoury lees, lemon biscuits and plenty of the discreet, telltale saline basaltic minerality. Spending circa 30 months on lees, the palate is weightless and pure, intense and saline with subtle bitter lemon, sea breeze and an oyster shell finish. A quietly spoken wine that really shows an understated authority and intensity. Superb finesse.
More pithy, lifted and citrus driven with an incredibly harmonious aromatic array of yellow grape fruit, leesy biscuit, basalt, white pear and sea breeze nuances. Such elegance and poise, this is a truly complex and intricate white with plenty of interest, minerality but also intense pithy citrus, bitter lemon intensity. Beautifully volcanic, salty and stony, but with a balancing dry fruit extract. Simply astonishing how complete and characterful this wine is. A seafood paring dream.
First vintage produced was 1990. The wine spends 24 months on its fine lees in stainless steel followed by 12 month ageing in bottle. Grapes are sourced from the best and oldest vines in the commune of Milo and forms part of the tiny quantity of Superiore Blanco produced on Etna.
Wonderfully complex nose of crushed basalt, struck match and reductive smokey mineral notes. There are underlying notes of sweet pear, lemon herbal tea and boxwood spice and rock salt. Palate is steely and taught, bright and tart with complexing notes of fresh fennel, white peach, and citrus blossom, finishing with a most intense rocky, liquid minerality and maritime salinity. Very young but shows immense potential.
With just a bit of tertiary age characters, the bouquet shows lovely notes of bruised white peaches, old honey, leesy spice, chamomile tea, white citrus, pomace stone and hints of diesel-fuel. The savoury note carries to the palate buoyed by intense liquid minerality, pear purée, bruised waxy apples and a sensation of sucking on wet river pebbles. The finish remains tart and fresh with a pronounced maritime influence.
Golden pale honey yellow, the nose show rich oxidative tertiary development with nuances of bruised peaches, meal biscuits, savoury white citrus and piquant aged, Riesling-like characters of diesel rag. The palate retains its bright acidity and liquid mineral mouthfeel with brine, resinous sappy spice and yellow apples on the finish. Earthy, volcanic and savoury, this is a complex mouthful.
Made from 100% Carricante, the aromatics show a sophisticated mix of white flowers, yellow citrus and white pear fruits with a pronounced undertone of basaltic volcanic minerality. The fruits are saline and pithy with herbal wet river stone minerality, green apple and delicate herb infused pear drop fruit nuances. Sleek crystalline texture, delicate weightless concentration and a salty maritime finish.
A fine pure rendition of this rare Sicilian variety. Bottled unblended as an IGT label, it shows an attractive stainless steel expression with deliciously pure aromatics of bramble berry, black currant, sappy flinty spice and earthy reductive complexity. Tightly wound, there are juicy berry flavours of stewed strawberry, creamy mineral tannins and supple notes of liquorice, salty black cherry and graphite on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Rosso 2016, 13.5% Abv.
A traditional blend of Nerello Mascalese sand Nerello Cappuccio, the nose is perfumed and penetrating with sweet Fraisse des Bois, bramble berries and savoury red plum. Finely poised, creamy dry mineral tannins and a harmonious, bright, fresh red berry and basalt rock finish. Lovely concentration and length.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Contrada Monte Serra’ 2016, 14.5% Abv.
Another fine Etna blend, the aromatics show more depth, power, minerality and also potpourri and red strawberry and red cherry fruit concentration. The palate is supple and fleshy with a deliciously alluring flavour spectrum of saline cassis fruit twinned with bright acids and linear, savoury tart plum and a red bramble berry finish. Really complex and already deliciously accessible but with age worthy aspirations.
100% Nerello Mascalese from 50 year old vines (permitted by the DOC since 2012) shows an intense, perfumed, savoury tinged aromatics of sun dried cranberries, ripe red cherry, and almost Nebbiolo like aromatics of tar and roses. Palate is cool and creamy with pronounced crushed stone minerality, cherry skins, sandy tannins and a long bramble berry finish with attractive botanical vermouth notes.
Intense and fragrant in the glass, the aromatics show richer, riper notes of red and black bramble berry fruits, strawberry compote, orange rind and subtle sweet vermouth botanical spices. On the palate the extra flesh and weight is evident, coating the mouth with sweet pithy red plum, red currant and spicy basaltic mineral tannins. Deliciously accessible and sweet fruited, the structure is preserved with vibrant acids and a drying stony minerality on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vertical tasting of Benanti Etna Rosso Cru ‘Rovittello’: (single vineyard)
Rovittello is the name of the vineyard on the northern slopes of Etna comprising of a natural field blend of 95% Nerello Mascalese and 5% Nerello Capuccio.
28 to 24 months in large oak barrels with at least 12 months ageing in bottle. Already beautifully perfumed and expressive, with violets, cherry blossom, saline cassis, sappy spice and dusty red cherry and graphite spice. The purity of the fruit shines on the palate with crystalline notes of sweet cherry, forest fruits, Pinot Noir nuances, mineral herbal grip and sappy, stalky Dujac’esque complexity. Bright pure acids, deliciously concentrated fruits and tantalising macerated strawberry finish.
Slightly darker, bloodier nose with layers of black salty licorice, salty cassis, sweet red bramble berries and savoury macerated strawberries. The palate is soft, plump and harmonious, quite mellow and spicy but with dusty powdery tannins, dry chalky grip, layered with sweet cherry fruits, tart bramble berries and a graphite and liquid mineral tension on the finish.
A fine garnet red colour, the nose shows pronounced tertiary savoury notes of wood spice, tannery leather, polished mahogany and sweet orange wine punch. Cool, spicy creamy textured palate, there is super juicy acids, bright tart sweet / sour cherry fruit notes, an element of linearity and a salty, dry, graphitey, grippy red liquorice finish. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vertical tasting of Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Serra della Contessa’:
(Single vineyard old vine plot in Monte Serra)
90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio from 110 year old ungrafted vines on the south eastern slopes of Etna. Matured for 18 to 24 months in large oak barrels, none new, from France and Slavonia. Stays 12 months in bottle before release. First vintage was 1998.
Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Serra della Contessa’ 2014, 13.5% Abv.
Bright tart lifted, energetic nose with intense notes of red cherry, dried rose petals, potpourri, saline cassis and sweet red apples. Palate shows a marvellous Burgundy meets Piedmont character with linear, taut black berry fruits, sweet forestry red berry intensity and a concentrated, plush, powerful, velvet in a silk glove approach. Deliciously fine and regal.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Serra della Contessa’ 2011, 14% Abv.
A couple of years extra bottle age lend this Cuvee a real aromatic boost with less of the pretty roses and violet perfume and more savoury blood orange, earthy pomegranate and dried leather complexity. The palate is plush, fleshy and grippy with sweet orange peel, tangerine and sweet savoury red berry earthy notes. Drinking beautifully with a fine balance between fruit freshness and tertiary forestry complexity. Lovely.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Serra della Contessa’ 2001, 14% Abv.
An earthy, forestry expression with nuanced tertiary aromas of basalt, sweet grilled herbs, dried orange peel, stewed strawberries, sweet tannery leather. The palate follows with more fleshy sweet herby forest berry fruits, stewed red plums, rosemary and savoury aniseed root complexity. Plenty of power and grip, this is really delicious as it reaches its maturity zenith.
A beautifully aromatic complexity expressed through volcanic, basaltic notes of limestone, soap stone, gravel and dried flowers with potpourri, sun dried cranberry and cherry fruit hints. Always described as possessing a character that transects Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir, this wine certainly has the spicy, mineral texture of Piemonte with liquorice and tar, roses and dried orange peel, with a voluptuous glycerol old vine depth that goes on and on and on. Wow, this has got to be one of the top 3 wines I’ve ever tasted from Etna. Drink now to 2040+.
24 month Metodo Classico using pure Carricante, made under consultation with a Francia Corta specialist. The aromatics are dusty and stony with a basaltic minerality, notes of pithy pear, peach blossom and honeysuckle. The salinity kicks in on the palate with a briney salty kick, delicious pear and white peach with tart green apple acidity and a pity, phenolic mineral grip. Mouthwatering, delicately sappy, decidedly maritime in feel but also beautifully accomplished with a creamy, explosive mousse. Very impressive.
Released in April 2024. Made from 100% Carricante, the aromatics show a sophisticated mix of white flowers, yellow citrus and white pear fruits with a pronounced undertone of basaltic volcanic minerality. The fruits are saline and pithy with herbal wet river stone minerality, green apple and delicate herb infused pear drop fruit nuances. Sleek crystalline texture, delicate weightless concentration and a salty maritime finish.
From bush trained Carricante vines planted at 800 metres. Fermentation and ageing all in stainless steel using indigenous yeasts. The aromatics are sweet fruited and piercing, boasting honey suckle, Wriggleys bubblegum, green apple, yellow stone fruits and hints of wet straw. The palate is dry and pithy, the acidity bright and steely, structured, taut and beautifully linear and saline with hints of oyster shell and basalt. The finish is crystalline and pure, beautifully balanced and harmonious with focus and intensity.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
(Some Carricante were planted in 2020 and released in 2024)
Benanti ‘Contrada Monte Serra’ Etna Rosso 2022, 14% Abv.
A harmonious offering with a uniquely complex mix of basaltic minerality, dried herbs and delicate pithy, stony notes of red cherry and cranberry spice. Taut, tight and mineral, layered with subtle pithy red berry fruits, fine grained tannins and a long, classical, maritime-tinged finish with just a hint of warmth.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti Etna Rosso ‘Contrada Monte Serra’ 2021, 14.5% Abv. (Magnum)
Deliciously earthy brambly fragrant aromatics showing notes of succulent sweet cranberries, red plum, pomegranate and blood orange with a delicate sweet 5 spice dusting. The palate is medium bodied and beautifully polished and harmonious with a stony fine grained texture, invigorating red berry acids and a savoury, brambly earthy intensity on the finish with a comforting warmth.
The pure, pristine aromatics are majestically fragrant and perfumed, packed full of candied red cherry, bramble berries, cranberry and delicately dusty, smoky, basaltic, mineral notes. Medium bodied but tight grained and concentrated, the palate complexity is enticingly salty and mineral with a powdery, creamy mid-palate, chalky drying tannins, finishing with real purity and bright intensity.
Deep dark broody smoky aromatics, made from younger vine 100% Nerello Mascalese, aged for 12 months in French Tonneau. The aromatics are dense, dark fruited and fully loaded with phenolic red and black berries, dried flowers, plum confit, liquid minerality and tarry, tangy, black cherry confit note on the finish. Plenty of intense fruit concentration, smoky mineral black berries and a delicately chewy, drying grippy saline finish. Powerful, complex but mouth watering.
A taut, linear expression boasting aromatic layers of perfumed white blossom, pink musk, red berries, saline black currant and black liquorice stick. The palate texture is taut but beautifully polished, tight grained and mineral but with an airy, ethereal crystalline weight and purity, finishing with a picante, mineral, basaltic persistence. This has the weightless concentration of young Grand Cru Burgundy with a taut, wound spring tension that ties it all together beautifully.
An incredibly complex and intricate aromatics in the glass bursting with cranberries, sweet red plum crystallised red cherry and red apple. The basaltic minerality vein runs comfortably through the palate showing incredibly sleek, silky stony tannins, wet stone minerality and a pithy, red cherry and cranberry finish. All the complicated volcanic minerality distilled into a superb, accessible package. Really very fine.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Benanti ‘Contrada Monte Serra’ Etna Rosso 2020, 13.5% Abv.
A complex aromatics of bramble berry notes over strawberry, cranberry and defined hints of truffle and mushrooms. The palate is crystalline, pure and incredibly focused and precise with chalky, basaltic red cherry, cranberry and sour red plum. Really classy, mineral and harmonious.
This is an incredibly rich, intense powerful wine with seductive, expressive aromatics of sweet liquorice, tar, saline black plum, and pithy black cherry. The palate is silky and seamless but also beautifully chalky and textured with dry extract, glycerol black cherry, fleshy jammy black berry and a delicately spicy, kelpy, compote saline finish.
A pure rendition of this rare Sicilian variety. Bottled unblended under an IGT label at Etna Rosso is reserved for Nerello Mascalese, it shows an attractive stainless steel purity with notes of savoury black berries, sappy bramble fruits, milk chocolate and raspberry compote. Bright and crunchy in the mouth, there’s a lifted cedar spice, led pencil peppery note with chalky mineral grippy tannins, a medium bodied weighting and a cool, cherry cola tinged finish kissed with a resinous nuance. Subtle rusticity done very well.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Benanti Wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Woodwinters. Contact: Andrew@woodwinters.com for pricing and allocations.
The 2025 vintage arrives on the market as one of the most talked-about in recent Swartland memory. After winter rains replenished groundwater and set vines up for a healthy viticultural season, a cool, dry growing period unfolded, often being described as a “Goldilocks” year in contrast to the deluges of 2024.
For the whites, moderate, dry harvest conditions allowed grapes to reach the cellar in excellent health, delivering wines with bright acidity, vivid fruit purity and real textural precision. The reds benefited from the same steady ripening window, with the Swartland’s noble red cultivars like Syrah developing intense colour, concentrated flavours and firm natural acidities, while low yields helped concentrate the wines’ character further.
The result is a premium RAAR range from the Riebeek Valley Wine Co. that captures a vintage of balance and clarity, producing wines that speak honestly of their terroir, a well chosen picking window, and winemaker Sheree Nothnagel’s distinctive, low-intervention style.
Raar Grenache Blanc 2025, WO Swartland, 12.5% Abv.
Both Grenache Noir and Grenache Blanc have been two absolute success stories in the Cape over the past decade, with both cultivars finding a comfortable home in the Swartland region and surrounds. This small batch production white in the RAAR range is an absolute delight, with incredibly intricate aromatics loaded with white flowers, pithy white citrus, green apple, honeysuckle, crunchy peaches and a pronounced mineral undertone of Granitic spice. On the palate, the energy is almost boundless, the palate tart, tangy and deliciously fresh with a succulent lemony acidity supported by pithy lemon and yellow grapefruit notes, green apple, fennel root and a pithy wet stone minerality on the drying saline finish. A wonderful expression to enjoy now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Raar Skin Contact Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Swartland, 12.5% Abv.
This Old Vine certified bush vine Chenin Blanc was planted in 1979 on decomposed Granite soils. After a cold soak on its skins for six days, the wine was fermented in barrel using wild yeasts before being aged on its fine lees for six months. The aromatics show reductive notes of struck flint, dusty crushed Granite, dried straw, bruised yellow orchard fruits and subtle pithy orange marmalade hints. The palate is pithy and spicy, with a notable wet stone minerality, green apple, white peach and an exotic dried herbal complexity on the finish. A characterful, mineral laden, picante expression of skin contact Chenin Blanc making it the perfect gourmet-styled wine pairing option to drink now and over the next 3 to 5 years. (3,733 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Raar Grenache Noir 2025, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.
This light to medium bodied red shows a beautiful aromatics of sweet purple flowers, a delicate sapidity, pressed violets, cranberries and savoury red bramble berry fruits. The palate displays the distinction and intensity of a great vintage like 2025, packed with a glycerol fruit concentration, a stony mineral skeletal frame, fresh integrated acids and sweet, soft pithy red berry fruits that linger long on the finish. You might need to give this young wine some time to add complexity, but stylistically, it’s a real beauty! Drink now to 2034+. (5,600 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Raar Shiraz Carbonic Maceration 2025. WO Swartland, 14% Abv.
Few grapes perform as well in the Swartland as Shiraz or Syrah, and this small batch production of 4,436 bottles used intra-cellular fermentation on 100% of the whole-bunches in the style of France’s Beaujolais region, followed by alcoholic fermentation, extended skin contact and then eight months barrel ageing before bottling. Always one of the most impressive cuvees in the RAAR range, this 2025 is certainly no different, bursting with a perfumed aromatics of violets, fresh rose petals, savoury black currants, black olive tapenade, sweet red peppercorns, cured bresaola and delicate hints of leafy sapidity. The texture on the palate is tight knit and creamy with a pronounced mineral chalky tannin structure, a tart bright integrated acidity and a beautifully spicy red and black berry fruited medley on the finish. Wonderful energy and a mouth watering acidity make this a particularly attractive red wine expression suitable for serving gently chilled. Drink now to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Raar Petite Sirah 2025. WO Swartland, 14% Abv.
This Petite Sirah, aka Durif, profiles an opulent cultivar grown in the Swartland, made from dry-grown bush-vine grapes that were wild fermented with 30% whole bunches and extended post-fermentation maceration, then aged in old French oak barrels for eight months. The result is an opulent, ever so slightly hedonistic red expression that is bursting with aromatics of red plum compote, mulberries and earthy black currants. Super ripe and intense, there is a notably picante character on the palate, that’s layered with sweet black and blue berry fruits, hints of molasses and stewed black orchard fruits. The tannins add a drying structural support of chalky minerality and sweet berry fruits to finish with a delicately chewy, grippy persistence. Young, bright and exotic, this could be the perfect wine for a barbeque / braai. Drink now to 2032. (2,490 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Raar Shiraz Carbonic Maceration is a regularly high scoring wine, cracking 95/100 GSMW for the 2025 release.
Benanti Viticoltori is one of the founding estates and market leaders of modern winemaking on Mount Etna, based in Viagrande on the volcano’s southeastern slope since 1988, when founder Giuseppe Benanti set out to prove the region’s unique volcanic terroir potential. Today the family estate, now run by sons Antonio and Salvino, is widely credited with putting DOC Etna on the world fine wine map.
Benanti Tasting Room in Viagrande
Benanti’s whites are all made from 100% Carricante, Etna’s indigenous white grape, that are vinified in stainless steel and never aged in oak to protect their terroir expression. Grapes come from vineyards on the eastern and southern slopes, primarily Contrada Cavaliere and Contrada Rinazzo, prized for their high elevation and abundant light, with vines aged between 20 to 60 years old, some trained as traditional Alberello bush vines. The results are pale, mineral-driven wines with maritime salinity, pithy citrus, and green apple characters, of course epitomized by their flagship Pietra Marina Bianco, a Carricante Superiore from ancient vines near Milo considered one of Italy’s most age-worthy whites.
The Benanti tasting line up.
The reds centre on Nerello Mascalese, either bottled as a mono-varietal or blended with a small amount of Nerello Cappuccio, grown in volcanic, mineral-rich soils across Etna’s different Contrade vineyard sites. These wines range from the everyday drinking DOC Etna Rosso to prestigious single-vineyard Riserva bottlings like Rovittello and Serra della Contessa, prized for their elegance, red fruit character, structure and clear volcanic minerality. Together, Benanti’s reds and whites showcase the remarkable diversity of Etna’s terroir.
Benanti tasting room.
On the second day of my DOC Etna visit, I was hosted by Antonio and Salvino Benanti at the Benanti Winery tasting room in Viagrande, next to the Contrada Monte Serra vineyards, where I was shown their full line-up of red and white wines as well as several back vintages for extra context. My full notes are below. Benanti only use local yeast strains that were isolated and selected since 2005 from four different remote Carricante and Nerello Mascalese vineyards far from any commercial wineries. Only these four selected yeasts are used today.
Sourced from Eastern slope vineyards of Etna, bottled spring 2019 and disgorged 14th Feb 2023. Aged 48 months on its lees with zero use of oak. Produced since 2002, the 2018 shows complex notes of sweet sappy honeysuckle, leesy biscuit, stony basaltic notes with hints of dried wild herbs and briney nuances. The palate is enticingly nutty and savoury, layered with pithy citrus peel, salted brioche and a subtle maritime salinity. Beautiful freshness and balance, delightfully flavourful and really quite delicious. Drink now to 2040+.
This Etna Bianco displays an incredibly expressive aromatics packed full of Sicilian lemons, brine, maritime salinity and dried baking herbs over hints of peach skins and a stony basaltic minerality. The palate shows a cool elegance, delicately supple and sleek with soft integrated acids, a crystalline briney concentration with a light to medium body, finishing with salted pears and a hint of white peach. Very attractive and approachable with a refreshing accessibility. Drink now to 2034+. (100,000 bottles produced.)
Made from 100% Carricante grapes that spend 12 months in stainless steel tanks post fermentation. The aromatics show a subtle dusty, flinty reduction with layers of white blossom, basaltic mineral spice, white pepper, crunchy pear, and dried herbal nuances. The palate reveals a fine concentration, delicately fleshy and pure with a crystalline fruit clarity, green pear and salty, pithy green apple with a delightfully tart, intense, characterful finish. Drink now to 2034+. (Circa 7-8,000 bottles produced.)
Made from around 1.2 hectares of Carricante grown on very light, sandy soils, the aromatics are contrasting to the Contrada Cavaliere Bianco being more delicate, sappy, and leafy with green fruits, dried herbs and savoury, pithy bruised yellow orchard fruit notes. The underlying saline, briney, sappy character carries to a cool, sleek, elegant palate which shows subtlety, textural harmony, and a stony, basaltic maritime salinity on the tangy finish. Drink now to 2032+.
From the unique Bianco Superiore village of Milo, this single site Contrada wine shows an incredibly intense, saline aromatics with a pronounced kerosene like pungency with a dusting of sweet baking herbs, lime peel, leafy sapidity and oystershell nuances. The volcanic basaltic minerality lurks ever present, the concentration notably punchy, profound and intense, layered with greengage, white peach and subtle green apple notes with yet more salinity and maritime characters on the long, persistent finish. An astonishing volcanic white expression drinking beautifully now. Drink now to 2036+.
The highest, most sandy vineyard in Rinazzo is generally used for Pietra Marina, although the exact designation is drawn from various “higher” eastern facing slopes. All aged in stainless steel, this 2021 shows a notable richness, aromatic density and intense maritime depth, with a chiselled complexity of almond skins, tangerines, orange peel pith, white peach and wet basaltic minerality. Full, plush and compact on the palate, there is a defined depth and density, an unctuous weight that is elevated by an astonishing salinity, a honied peachiness, and a superbly well integrated acid freshness. Undoubtedly one of the great white island wines of the world. Drink now to 2040+.
Considered a more ‘regular’ vintage on Etna compared to the hotter, more solar vintage characters across Italy and the Mediterranean. The nose reveals delightful aromatics with defined notes of briney salinity, hints of honey and kerosene, sapidity, and savoury, dried baking herb mealy nuances over yellow orchard fruits. The palate is impressively saline and pithy, heavily mineral laden with a wet stone intensity, but quite harmonious and balanced with an effortless concentration and balance. This wine is sitting in a beautiful sweet spot at the moment. Drink now to 2036+.
This 2016 is only just starting to show an inkling of tertiary development while remaining essentially fresh and mineral. Beautifully complex, the aromatics reveal notes of kerosene, diesel rag, lime peel, dry honey, white toast, waxy bergamot and chamomile tea nuances. Fabulously cool, harmonious and ‘complete’ on the palate, the crystalline purity shines, enlivened by the maritime salinity, basaltic stony minerality and a delicately savoury, briney finish. Gently evolving, this wine shows this vineyard’s true ageing credentials at 10 years old. Drink now to 2034+.
The opulent aromatics show beautifully lifted, perfumed aromatics of wild bramble berries, sweet pithy strawberry, saline black currant and undertones of sapidity, cherry pipe tobacco and dried cigar wrapper. Soft, vibrant and plush in the mouth, the ripeness coats the palate showing none of the rusticity this grape is known for. The palate is medium to full bodied, compact and dense, yet effortlessly concentrated with pithy red and black berry fruits, a sturdy Basaltic mineral tannin backbone and a well-integrated, tangy brightness on the finish. A wonderfully unique and characterful wine. Drink now to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
10 Benanti DOC Etna Rosso 2024, 14% Abv.
Since 2011, Etna Rosso was not required to be blended anymore by DOC regulations. But Benanti Etna Rosso remains a blend to this day, using varying quantities of between 10% and 15% of Nerello Cappuccio in the final cuvee. The aromatics are beautifully perfumed and lifted, showing the vintages concentration and intensity of red and black berries, red cherries, sweet cranberry and a delicate wild bramble berry spice. The palate is cool, silky and pinpoint pure, effortlessly elegant with silky stony tannins, a complexing minerality, and a delicate, succulent, spicy berry fruited finish. Such a classy, refined expression of Etna Rosso making it one of the benchmarks of the region. Drink now to 2034+.
This unique volcanic site shows a pronounced minty, perfumed, black berry aromatics with pithy strawberry, thyme and dried baking herbs over the ever present basaltic minerality. Soft, cool and supple in the mouth, the texture is fine grained but exceptionally elegant, fresh and pithy, beaming with a stony, volcanic minerality. Perhaps a little softer and more supple than some other Contrada, this Monte Serra is accessible, generous and a genuinely delicious crowd pleaser. Drink now to 2036+.
This beautiful Nerello Mascalese shows a deeper, darker, broodier black cherry and black berry aromatics with a pronounced salty maritime character, hints of black liquorice, basaltic minerality, dried flowers, wild strawberry and a delicate kelpy nuance. The palate texture is quite strict, framed by vibrant acids and a chalky, stony mineral tannin frame that keeps the wine restrained, pure, and quite firm and fine. Very impressive precision and focus with a chiselled intensity. Serious and seriously delicious. Drink now to 2040+.
A ripe, intense expression that shows piercing aromatics of salted black liquorice, dried flowers, potpourri, pink musk and sweet exotic baking herbs. The palate is dark fruited, intensely saline and supple with a light to medium bodied weight, a sleek stony mineral vein and an effortlessly accessible character that makes this wine so delicious and inviting. The length is fabulously long, the black berry compote and black salty liquorice notes lingering on the concentrated finish. A very serious wine, but in many ways, quite a crowd pleaser as well. Drink now to 2034+.
The newest Contrada in the Benanti range, the first official vintage was 2020 with increased volumes produced in 2021. The whole vineyard is 0.8 hectares of Nerello Mascalese, produced on dark, rich, sandy, stony volcanic soils that yield powerful aromatics of black plum, saline black currant, pithy black cherry and stony, mineral basaltic notes. The texture is silky and incredibly fine grained, almost powdery, with pinpoint pure mineral tannins, supple integrated acids, massive density and a long, harmonious, concentrated savoury finish. This is a wine that really surprises you with its power, precision, and regal depth. Drink now to 2040+.
DOC Riservas can’t be released before four years from harvest requiring at least 12 months ageing in barrel. This wine spends between 24 to 30 months in large oak before bottling, being aged another year or more in bottle before release. The vines were planted in early 1900s on their own rootstocks, producing a wine of profound depth and intensity. The aromatic breadth and depth are notable, the extra barrel ageing adding a complexing wood spice that combines with deep, broody black berry notes, pithy black cherry and salty black liquorice, finishing with chalky, drying stony tannins, saline black currant fruits and delicate graphite hints. This is a contemplative wine, regal and powerful, bold and confident, demanding your attention without too much exuberance. Wow, really something special. Drink now to 2045+.
Now 10 years old, this distinguished old bush vine cuvee is showing an attractive depth and complexity, brimming with deliciously inviting aromatics of raisined black cherries, black currants, and salted liquorice with a delicately sappy, leafy undertone. The fruit character is bold and plush on the palate, the acids softening, allowing the texture to coat the mouth with notes of stewed black plums, molasses, and black cherry compote. 2016 stands as a supremely harmonious, balanced vintage with real accessibility, balance and developing tertiary complexity. Drink now to 2036+.
The old vine parcel within the Contrada Dafara Galluzzo vineyards, the Rovittello 2020 is a supremely complex, intense expression displaying a pronounced saline, kelpy, black currant intensity over black berry, black cherry and delicately reductive, graphite nuances. The palate texture is fresh, lithe but intense and supple, the tannins loosening up to release the real salty black liquorice and black currant fruit intensity of these old vines. Impressively powerful and imposing, but also effortlessly sleek, classy, and accessible without shouting too loudly. This is a profound expression that redefines the essence of old vine Etna Nerello Mascalese. Drink now to 2040+.
This is simply a sublime expression from old vine Nerello Mascalese even though it is technically a field blend with a few Nerello Cappuccio vines co-planted. But this 2016 simple hits a new high, an aromatic Zenith of red and black fruited perfume, a delicately leafy sapidity, cherry pipe tobacco, and tightly interwoven basaltic mineral undertones. The balance and purity here is next level, the sweet tannins displayed boldly with no over ripe flavours to obscure the Northern Etna terroir minerality, the saline liquorice nuances and the black cherry fruit persistence. A profound wine on any global fine wine yardstick. Drink now to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Benanti are imported exclusively into the UK by wine merchant Woodwinters. Contact Andrew@woodwinters.com to request allocations and trade pricing.
Located in the Franschhoek Valley in the Western Cape winelands, the Holden Manz Wine Estate has built a reputation for wines of precision, elegance, opulence as well as quiet ambition. Founded with a passion for craftsmanship, the estate blends old-world winemaking sensibility under winemaker Thierry Haberer, with a distinctly modern spirit, evident not only in the wines themselves but in the striking art and architecture that define this Franschhoek property.
Among the estate’s most celebrated whites is their Reserve Chardonnay, sourced from carefully selected sites across the Franschhoek Valley and the Banhoek Valley in Stellenbosch. Extended lees contact and regular batonnage give the wine remarkable texture and depth, while notes of citrus, grapefruit, and white flowers unfold against a backdrop of balanced, integrated oak use. It is a chardonnay that manages to be both generous and refined, full-bodied, yet fresh and deliciously vibrant.
At the estate’s pinnacle sits Elysium, its flagship red blend. Born from a rare occurrence, Merlot and Syrah ripening simultaneously on the farm, Elysium is hand-picked, hand-sorted, and co-fermented in new French oak, resulting in a wine of striking concentration and harmony. Produced only in select vintages and in very limited quantities, it stands as the estate’s most ambitious expression of place and craft. Together, these wines capture the essence of Holden Manz: bold, meticulous, and deeply rooted in their Franschhoek terroir.
Holden Manz Chardonnay Reserve 2023, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.
This Reserve Chardonnay from Holden Manz opens with an enthralling aromatics that’s bright, fragrant and deliciously complex, packed full of crystallised lemon slices, candied green melon and green apples dipped in salted caramel. In the mouth, there is real precision and balance, the mouthfeel harmonious, textural and fleshy with a glycerol concentration, picante phenolics of lemon peel, citrus bon bons, and a hint of spicy green apple on the finish. Bright, fruity and succulent while remaining spicy, minerally charged and decidedly sophisticated, this is another superb effort from Holden Manz. Drink now to 2032+.
Of all the wines in the Holden Manz range, the super premium Elysium is undoubtedly the most ambitious, opulent and hedonistic expression. Super ripe, full bodied and certainly no wilting daisy when it comes to concentration, this co-fermented Merlot – Syrah, only produced in years when these two grapes ripen at the same time, manages to elicit the best qualities from both cultivars, with the Merlot offering up plush, creamy, dense blueberry and black berry fruit nuances with the Syrah adding a savoury complexity, sweet Christmas spices and an enticing bramble berry wildness. Full throttle, seamlessly textured, dense and fleshy, the tannins are incredibly finessed and sweet, the acids well integrated beneath lashings of ripe black fruits. A powerful creation that retains a suave textural elegance with only a slight alcohol warmth accompanying the long, sweet fruited finish. Enjoy now and over the next 6 to 8+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Holden Manz wines are imported into the UK by Vindependents and sold retail by specialist South African merchants like Museum Wines and Woodwinters in Scotland.
Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, is also home to one of Italy’s most distinctive wine appellations. Established in 1968 as Sicily’s first Denominazione di Origine Controllata, DOC Etna occupies a semi-circular band on the volcano’s slopes, with vineyards ranging from roughly 450 to over 1,000 metres above sea level. What makes Etna extraordinary is not simply its altitude or its volcanic soils, but the astonishing fragmentation of its terroir.
The formidable active volcano of Mount Etna.
Within this single appellation, the mountain is divided into named districts called Contrade, a system now formally recognized, with over 140 individually mapped zones based on historic lava flows, property boundaries, and family holdings dating back generations. Wine writers frequently compare this regional structure to Burgundy’s climats, since each Contrada represents a discrete parcel whose soils, exposure, and microclimate can differ meaningfully from its neighbour just a few hundred metres away, even though both may fall under the same broad DOC rules governing grape varieties and yields.
The soils around Etna are classified by the age of the lava flows. This is a recent 2002 eruption that destroyed a hotel and ski resort.
The Contrada system exists because Etna’s geology is not uniform. The volcano has erupted repeatedly over thousands of years, and each eruption deposited a distinct sciara, or lava flow, that weathered over time into its own particular soil structure, sometimes sandy and free – draining, sometimes dense with clay, sometimes strewn with porous lava stone.
The vegetation is also denser on the older lava flows, it normally taking 60 to 100 years before small trees are able to grow on the decomposing lava. The above soils are from the 1865 eruption.
Combined with the mountain’s four differing slopes, each with its own rainfall patterns, sun exposure, and proximity to the Ionian Sea, the result is a patchwork of microzones capable of producing wines with dramatically different character even when made from the same two principal grapes: Nerello Mascalese and, to a lesser degree, Nerello Cappuccio for red wines, and Carricante for the appellation’s whites.
Northern vineyards in Contrada Calderara Sottana near Randazzo looking South to the volcano, planted to mostly Nerello Mascalese.Benanti Winery is one of the island’s leaders in recording and analysing temperature, wind, and precipitation data across their vineyards through multiple mini weather stations.High altitude Nerello Mascalese vineyards in Contrada Dafara Galluzzo near the town of Rovittello, east of Randazzo. Here you will also find Benanti’s Alberello Centenario vines that go into their iconic Rovittello Etna Rosso Riserva.
The northern slope, generally considered the historic core of quality winemaking, tends to produce structured, tannic, mineral-driven reds from older, more decomposed lava soils. The eastern slope, cooled by sea breezes and higher rainfall, is Carricante’s traditional home, particularly around the commune of Milo, the only zone permitted to use the elevated Etna Bianco Superiore designation. The southern slopes, both southeast and southwest, offer warmer, sunnier exposures on comparatively younger volcanic soils, yielding wines that often show softer fruit and earlier approachability.
White Carricante vineyards in the Eastern Contrada Rinazzo, near the village of Milo, over looking the sea. This is the only Contrada that qualifies as Etna Bianco Superiore and is also home to the famous ‘Pietra Marina’ blocks on the highest slopes. Looking west up to the volcano from the Contrada Rinazzo Carricante vineyards.
No producer illustrates this diversity more completely than Benanti, as I discovered on my recent trip to Sicily in mid-June 2026. Founded in 1988 by businessman Giuseppe Benanti under the original name Tenuta di Castiglione, the estate is today widely credited as the modern pioneer of fine winemaking on Etna, and it remains the only winery farming vineyards on every slope of the DOC zone. Rather than blending fruit from scattered plots into a single generic Etna Rosso or Bianco, Benanti has built its identity around vinifying individual Contrade separately, treating each site as a distinct expression of the mountain, an approach that mirrors, quite deliberately, the single-vineyard philosophy of Burgundy.
Vineyards in Contrada Dafara Galluzzo near the village of Rovittello.
In the north, Benanti’s holdings center on Contrada Dafara Galluzzo, in the district of Rovittello near Castiglione di Sicilia, at roughly 750 metres of elevation. This site sits on some of the oldest, most decomposed lava on the mountain, part of the geological layer locals call Mongibelloantico. The vineyard is planted exclusively to Nerello Mascalese, including a small parcel of pre-phylloxera, ungrafted centenarian vines. This is the source of Rovittello, Benanti’s founding red wine and one of the estate’s flagship labels, along with the more recent Rovittello Riserva.
Wines from this northern site are typically described as aristocratic and austere, marked by firm tannins, deep earthy notes, and possess considerable aging potential, qualities widely associated with the northern slope’s cooler, higher-altitude character and older soil substrate.
Co-owner Salvino Benanti explaining the Contrada wines on the northern slopes.
On the eastern slopes, Benanti farms Contrada Rinazzo in the commune (and town) of Milo, a steep vineyard of small stone-walled terraces facing the Ionian Sea just a few miles away. Because Milo is the only area within the DOC permitted to produce Etna Bianco Superiore, this site is planted entirely to Carricante, trained in the traditional alberello, or head-trained bush vine, method. The area’s rainfall, humidity, and fine-grained volcanic soils encourage excellent water retention, producing whites of notable saline minerality and structure. From the higher, less sandy terraces here comes Pietra Marina, Benanti’s celebrated single-vineyard Etna Bianco Superiore and the wine that helped establish Carricante’s international reputation; the remainder of the site yields the more approachable Contrada Rinazzo bottling.
Terraced vineyards around the winery in the Contrada Monte Serra near the town of ViaGrande.Old Alberello Centenario Nerello Mascalese vines in Contrada Monte Serra, that are used for the Serra Della Contessa Etna Rosso Riserva.
To the south, Benanti’s story becomes slightly more complex, since the estate actually holds sites on both the southeastern and southwestern flanks of the volcano. The historic heart of the winery is Contrada Monte Serra in Viagrande, on the southeastern slope, where the family has grown grapes since the late nineteenth century and where the estate’s headquarters now sits amid extinct volcanic cones and red pumice soils known locally as ripiddu. This is a mixed-variety site, home to Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, and some Carricante, and it produces both an Etna Rosso and an Etna Bianco under the Contrada Monte Serra label, as well as Serra della Contessa, a Riserva sourced from a tiny plot of centenarian, pre-phylloxera vines at the estate’s highest point.
Benanti’s southwestern vineyards in Contrada Cavaliere, looking north towards Mount Etna. Here Benanti grow Carricante, Nerello Mascalese and a little Nerello Cappuccio.Young Carricante peaberry grapes in Contrada Cavaliere in mid-June.New Benanti vineyard plantings in Contrada Cavaliere.
Further southwest, in Santa Maria di Licodia, Benanti also farms Contrada Cavaliere at around 900 metres, a partnership dating to the mid-1990s, where intense light and dramatic diurnal temperature swings on comparatively younger volcanic soils yield taut, high-altitude wines.
Vineyards in Contrada Cavaliere.
Taken together, Benanti’s five Contrade function almost as a working demonstration of Etna’s terroir diversity: northern structure and longevity, eastern saline precision, and southern warmth and earlier accessibility, all expressed through the same handful of native grape varieties. In this sense, Benanti’s portfolio is less a conventional producer lineup than a cartographic argument – proof, bottle by bottle, that the mountain is not simply one terroir but many great terroirs capable of producing some incredibly profound white and red wines.
(Watch out for Part 2 where I review Benanti’s full range of current wine releases, and then Part 3, where I highlight archive vintages from the winery, going back more than two decades.)
I travelled to DOC Etna in mid-June 2026 at the invitation of the Benanti winery, accompanied by their exclusive UK importer, Woodwinters. Contact Andrew@woodwinters.com for more information on allocations and trade pricing.
Sakkie Mouton is a highly talented young South African winemaker who has, over the past eight years, built a veritable cult following on the wild, wind swept West Coast of the Western Cape. Since his maiden 2018 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, he’s earned a reputation for terroir-driven, minimal-intervention wines from some of the most unforgiving vineyard sites in South Africa, sourcing fruit from cool, Atlantic-influenced spots in Vredendal and Koekenaap.
While his flagship white is considered his Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc, his Full On Misfit white blend, whose name says it all, deliberately avoids imitating a Rhône, Portuguese, or classic Cape white blend, aiming instead to be something wholly its own. The composition shifts vintage to vintage, but centres on Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Macabeo, and Muscat d’Alexandrie, grown on sandstone and silty soils not far from the cold Atlantic Ocean. Production is hands-on and low-tech, with grapes picked in the early morning hours for freshness, and then foot-stomped in an old basket press with only a touch of sulphur added.
Sakkie Mouton (left) tasting with Ex-England cricket captain, Allan Lamb, at 67 Pall Mall during the recent UK launch of his new vintage releases.
I have often praised the wine’s “West Coast Swagger,” and later vintages have only sharpened that identity further – the 2022 was called his “most accomplished to date”, while his 2023 leaned more heavily on Chenin Blanc, showing classical lemon verbena, white peach, and a fresh, salty maritime finish. Together, Sakkie’s wines represent some of the most original and closely watched expressions coming out of South Africa’s West Coast today, and his Full On Misfit white blend is the canvas that allows Sakkie to continue experimenting and innovating.
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Full on Misfit 2024, WO Western Cape, 12.75% Abv.
1.4g/l RS | 7.3g/l TA | 3.07pH
Of all the wines made by Sakkie Mouton, it is probably the Full on Misfit White Blend that has evolved the most over the past few years as it represents his unofficial playground to experiment. The 2024 is made from three different vineyards located between 15 and 25kms from the cold Atlantic Ocean, around the town of Vredendal on the West Coast, and is a blend of 75% Chenin Blanc, 18% Colombar and 7% Harslevelu. Fermented in stainless steel, the individual cultivars were then aged in 500 litre oak barrels for 8 months before being blended and aged for a further 3 months before bottling. Beautifully crystalline and fresh, the aromatics show pretty perfumed notes of white blossom, lime peel, grapefruit marmalade and crunchy white peaches drizzled in honey. The signature salinity Sakkie’s wines are so famous for is ever present on the palate, bristling alongside bright steely acids, tangerine fruits, lime cordial and finishing with a mouth-wateringly tangy pear fruit pastille persistence. The 2024 West Coast whites might not have the same muscle of the 2023s or the intense sweet fruit concentration of the 2025s, but they are certainly unrivalled in their purity, steely tension, and crystalline structures. Enjoy now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Sakkie Mouton Family Wines are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines and Wood Winters UK.
Situated in the heart of prime Stellenbosch terroir, the Hazendal Wine Estate is entering an exciting new chapter in its long history. With a legacy dating back to 1699, this historic property has long been synonymous with traditional winemaking, but under the stewardship of new head winemaker Kiara Scott-Farmer, Hazendal is being reimagined for a new generation of wine lovers.
Kiara assumed the role of Head Winemaker at Hazendal in early 2025, bringing with her from Brookdale Winery, a reputation as one of South Africa’s most exciting young winemaking talents. Born on the Cape Flats, she trained at Elsenburg Agricultural College before rising through the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, and in 2024 she made history as the first woman of colour to win the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award.
Kiara Scott – Farmer in London.
At Hazendal, Kiara’s philosophy of minimal intervention centres on the belief that great wines are made in the vineyard, with a deep focus on understanding each block’s soil and character. This philosophy finds its fullest expression in the estate’s celebrated Bottelary Hills ward, whose unique, light Granitic soils lend the wines a transparent, ethereal fruit character not easily found elsewhere in Stellenbosch. Through her debut single-cultivar collection featuring Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Carignan and Pinot Noir Rosé, Kiara is giving Hazendal’s terroir a fresh, confident voice, ushering the estate into a compelling new era.
This beautiful Sancerre-styled Pinot Noir Rosé is a very classically elegant wine that shows an intense salmon pink colour and boasts intense, highly seductive, mouth-watering aromatics of red berries, white flowers, white peach, and subtle wild strawberry hints. Medium bodied and cool, the mouthfeel is dry but slightly less mineral than her maiden 2024 release but deliciously fresh and tangy with an enticing assortment of red summer berry fruits, red cherries, and delicate dried herb notes on the finish. A wonderfully sophisticated Rosé expression with real intent and ambition. Drink now to 2030+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Hazendal Wine Estate Pinotage 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
This small 3,050 bottle Pinotage cuvée from the superb 2025 vintage has really allowed Kiara to flex her winemaking expertise with South Africa’s own homegrown cultivar Pinotage. Grown, produced and bottled on the Hazendal Estate, the wine was matured for 11 months in 500 litre French oak barrels along with some concrete tanks. Youthful but already a head-turning beauty, this wine reveals a shimmering, perfumed opulence, boasting intricate notes of violets, freshly picked rose petals, a summer medley of red and black berry fruits, mulberries, bramble berries and a subtle whole bunch sapidity alongside delicate cedar wood spice nuances. In the mouth, the wine is vibrant and fresh, the tannins effortlessly silky and soft, adding just sufficient ballast and frame to the wine. The purity and precision on the palate are breathtaking, the multiple layers of fruit, spices and tangy acidity seamlessly interwoven together creating a very juicy, attractively elegant premium Pinotage. Very impressive indeed. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Hazendal Wine Estate Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
One of Kiara Scott-Farmer’s signature grapes is of course Chenin Blanc, and the 2025 vintage has offered her the perfect canvas to create a true masterpiece. The aromatics are rich and enticing with complex notes of perfumed honeysuckle, white blossoms, peaches, wet hay and melted honey on warm white toast with a delicate kiss of cinnamon wood spice. The crystalline purity, clarity and complexity follow to a palate that shows an impressive textural density and yellow orchard fruit concentration while at the same time exhibiting a sensation of lightness, elegance and lithe weightlessness. The finish is delicately spicy and mineral with an overt underlying salinity that makes it deliciously mouth-watering. This new wine undoubtedly cements Kiara’s place at the top table of Cape Chenin Producers. Drink now and over the next decade.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Hazendal Wine Estate White Blend 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.11% Abv.
This impressive white blend forms part of the new ‘Estate Collection’ from Hazendal and is carefully crafted by cellarmaster Kiara Scott-Farmer. Made from primarily Roussanne and Marsanne, grown on a tiny 0.4-hectare site with weathered-Granite and Clay soils, the aromatics definitely transport you to the Northern Rhone with notes of apricot, yellow peach stones, dry straw, fynbos, quince and delicately honied chamomile nuances. Handled correctly, Marsanne and Roussanne can produced wines with a delightful acidity and this wine positively bursts forth with a tangy bright freshness, orange peel zest, honey drizzled peaches and delicately pithy wood spice nuances. The minerality is ever present and supportive, adding yet more complexity to this delicious white blend. Beautifully layered, intense, and harmoniously balanced, this wine is another impressive success for Cellarmaster Kiara. Drink now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Hazendal Wine Estate Syrah 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
The Bottelary Hills is prime red wine territory, and with this maiden release Syrah, Kiara has utilised 22% whole-bunches in the fermentation before being aged for 9 months in 60% older 500-litre French oak barrels together with a 40% concrete tank portion. Bold, wild and exotically perfumed, the aromatics reveal attractive notes of violets, potpourri, rose petals and black pepper before more subtle hints of salty black liquorice, black cherries and black kalamata olive tapenade. In the mouth, the palate is cool, plush and polished with a medium body, silky fine grained tannins and a tangy fresh vivacity that makes the mouth water. The texture is sleek and elegant, showing Kiara’s signature weightless concentration, before finishing gently with a drying mineral persistence. A really majestic Syrah that simply does not put a foot out of place… and of course it is also crazy value for money! Drink now and over the next decade. (10,828 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Hazendal Estate are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines. The range also features a limited release single varietal Carignan 2025 bottled exclusively in magnums.
Bellevue Estate holds a unique place in South African wine history as the birthplace of Pinotage. In 1925, Professor Abraham Izak Perold planted the original Pinotage vines, a crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, in the garden of the estate’s 1701 manor house, located in the Bottelary Hills ward of Stellenbosch. That single mother vine became the genetic source for the variety now considered one of South Africa’s signature grapes.
Today, Bellevue Estate continues to honor this legacy, cultivating old-vine Pinotage on the estate’s decomposed Granite soils. With its rich terroir and direct lineage to Pinotage’s origins, Bellevue Estate remains a touchstone for the cultivar’s identity and evolution, making their Estate, Reserve and Heritage Pinotage Cuvées go to wines for discerning consumers.
Bellevue Estate Pinotage 2023, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The resurgent Bellevue Estate has just released another very impressive “Estate” level Pinotage to complement their respected Reserve and Heritage cuvées. Aged for 12 months in French-coopered American oak barrels, the aromatics are lifted, beautifully fragrant and simply bursting with notes of perfumed violets, red and black cherries and an undertone of freshly baked blueberry crumble. In the mouth, the texture is soft and supple, the tannins silky and fine grained with delicately reductive blue and black berry hints, a delightful salty liquorice twist, and a concentrated, accessible, mouth watering finish. A deliciously joyful wine with real substance that will appeal to true blue Pinotage lovers as well as consumers new to the cultivar. Drink now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Bellevue wines are imported into the UK and are available on request through South African specialist, Museum Wines.
Holden Manz is often described as “the hedonistic heart of Franschhoek.” Lying in the top corner of the Franschhoek Valley, Holden Manz Wine Estate continues to establish itself as a benchmark producer of unashamedly plush, opulent, hedonistic wines. Embraced by dramatic mountain peaks and nurtured by the valley’s rich loam soils, this unique microclimate yields fruit of notable depth, ripeness and structural refinement.
While the estate is justly famous for its muscular Bordeaux blends, it is perhaps their Syrah and Semillon that truly showcase the diverse capabilities of this multi-layered terroir. Their Syrah, in particular, is always opulent, ripe and highly expressive, with multiple releases showing plush layers of sweet violet perfume, black plum compote, roasted coffee beans and brûléed oak spice characteristics. But in a very much juxtaposing, slightly atypical Holden Manz style, their Semillon delivers a wonderfully cool, fresh, and crystalline personality loaded with pithy lemon peel, white blossoms, and a vibrant, tangy mouthwatering acidity that keeps the palate energetically alive. Two diametrically opposing styles showing that this estate should not be pigeon holed.
Holden Manz Semillon 2023, WO Franschhoek, 12.5% Abv.
This 2023 is a fabulously bright, crystalline pale gold yellow that simply bristles with energy. Coming from the Franschhoek Valley, one of the Cape’s true Semillon homelands, this wine shines with taut, mineral aromatics showing delicate tart white citrus, honeysuckle, fresh lawn cuttings, saline briney notes together with crushed oystershell and delicately herbal green leaf nuances. The delicately prickly aromatics follow to a cool, steely, intense palate with a pronounced wet stone minerality, tart yellow plums, green apple skins, and a lovely pronounced line of acidity on the linear finish. This is a top drawer Semillon expression that can confidently stand tall amongst the finest examples in the Valley. Drink now and over the next 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW
Holden Manz Reserve Syrah 2020, WO Franschhoek, 15% Abv.
While the aromatics and ripeness on this opulent Reserve Syrah suggest a warmer vintage, on the contrary, 2020 in Franschhoek was not considered a warm dry harvest with the growing season widely celebrated as a cooler, wetter, and highly favourable vintage that marked a welcome relief from the severe, multi-year drought that plagued the Western Cape between 2015 and 2018. On this impressive reserve wine we see lush, plush, bold aromatics of savoury black plum, blueberry compote, salty black liquorice and delicate burnt sugar and molasses nuances. The palate deceptively screams Southern Rhone, showing a creamy blue and black berry fruit concentration, savoury hints of cured deli meats, chargrilled charcuterie and a creamy lactic oak kissed concentration on the bold, hedonistic finish. The earthy Chateauneuf-du-Pape’esque character will certainly appeal to many connoisseurs who like their Syrahs with a little more ‘meat on the bone’. Drink now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Holden Manz wines are imported into the UK by Vindependents and are widely available retail from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines and Wood Winters in Scotland.
