Raats Family Wines is now considered a world leader in premium Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc production. But if you know Bruwer and Mzokhona, you’ll realise they’re both mad keen on Bordeaux blends, kindred spirits that fostered the MR de Compostella partnership in the early noughties, culminating with the maiden release in 2004.

For their latest release, a cool wet October and November 2021 saw above average rainfall leading to vigorous growth in the vineyards which required extra work to manage canopies. January and February 2022 saw multiple heat spikes in keeping with more ‘normal’ vintage conditions in the Cape. There was some variable ripening across cultivars and plots ultimately leading to a fairly late, drawn-out harvest season which began slightly later than predicted. The resulting 2022 wines show a density and concentration rather than heaviness with well integrated harmonious acids and a friendly accessibility.

MR de Compostella Cape Bordeaux Blend 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

Another year and another incredible red release from what has to be South Africa’s most consistent premium brand. The 2022 MR de Compostella is a blend of 23% Cabernet Franc, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot and 9% Merlot sourced from 10 to 25 years old vines grown on decomposed granite and clay / sandstone soils in Stellenbosch. The aromas of this classy red are complex and utterly seductive with delicately interwoven layers of sweet cedar, graphite, lapsang tea, and iodine before hints of wet undergrowth, tilled earth, damson plum and saline creme de cassis. The palate is deliciously tight knit, fine grained and intense with salty black currant, tart black cherry, hints of Christmas cake, smokey cured meats and subtle sweet vanilla oak spice nuances. The focus of this beautiful wine recalls the elegance and pinpoint weightless precision of the 2017 vintage bolstered by a sleek, sumptuous, fleshy accessible opulence not dissimilar to the incredibly popular 2020 vintage. Just when you think the Cabernet Sauvignon is going to assert its own unique character, then the silky, creamy, perfumed elegance of the Cabernet Franc re-emerges assertively to bestow this fabulous vintage with flesh, concentration and an elegant seductive depth. Always a tough act following an iconic vintage like 2021, but 2022 succeeds immaculately. Well done to the MR team once again. Drink from 2025 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

The MR de Compostella and Raats Family Wines are available to the wine trade in the UK from Alliance Wines and retail from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.