It’s been over two decades since Paul Boutinot set up his Waterkloof Winery in 2003 on the slopes of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. As a wine merchant at the time who was buying a lot of wine from Paul’s UK wine merchant company, Boutinot Wines, I certainly watched this new project with a lot of interest. Both Paul, and son Louis, were always adamant that the “Waterkloof” brand would only ever be used for the winery’s highest quality wines, and as such, this would take some time for the winemaking and vineyards to evolve to a point where this was possible. As a result, consumers have become well acquainted with Waterkloof’s Circumstance brand in the interim.
Roll forward to 2024 and we see their new Waterkloof Boreas Cape Bordeaux Blend produced by winemaker Nadia Langenegger, released at the winery. A blend of 51% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the best parcels that are farmed regeneratively used in this blend that saw a whole-bunch wild yeast fermentation (with the exception of the Cabernet Sauvignon), foot-trodden in 9000 litre French oak open top foudre. The resulting wine was aged for 27 months in French oak barriques, with a 10% new component, as well as in the 9000 litre French oak foudre. The finished wine saw a gentle filtration with no fining or additives added other than a small amount of sulphur at bottling.
Waterkloof Winery Boreas 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The 2020 vintage in the Cape is known for its softer, more elegant, and accessible red expressions and this new Waterkloof release fits tightly into the broader generalities of the vintage. The aromatics are packed full of violets, graphite and iodine with pronounced notes of grilled red capsicum, dried herbs, fynbos and an intense sappy cedar spice complexity that melts into sweet black currant and mulberry fruits on a cool, creamy, finely textured palate. Picante and beautifully complex, the finish is silky and fine grained with lots of powdery black tea tannins, subtle complexing herby pyrazines, and a long, dusty, granitic tobacco spice finish. A very sleek, polished, dynamic wine with a high degree of winemaking flair on display. Drink this accessible 2020 vintage expression now on release and over the next 8-12+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines are distributed to the trade in the UK by Boutinot Wines and retails for circa £30 per bottle.