The previous Lievland Wine Estate can certainly be counted as one of the grand old Cape brands of the 1980s and 1990s and I can confirm that I certainly drank my fair share of their famous value red blend, the Lievlander, as well as plenty of their Shiraz and their delicious DVB Cape Bordeaux Blend. In 2017, it was announced that MAN Family Wines had acquired the 110 hectare estate with ambitious plans to build a new cellar facility and also slowly replant some of the 60 hectares under vine.
Lying on much respected Simonsberg Stellenbosch terroir, immediate neighbours are Natte Valleij, Warwick, the old Uitkyk, Kanonkop and Le Bonheur. I recently caught up in London with their head winemaker, Riaan Möller, to taste through a current selection of the Lievland Vineyards wines.
Lievland Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2022, WO Elgin, 13% Abv.
Deliciously exotic aromatics with peach skins, apricot, gooseberry, melon and green apple pastille. 100% stainless steel fermented with several inoculated yeast strains. From Sandstone soil vineyards, south facing, the grapes yield deliciously cool crystalline fruits boasting white peach, green pear, white pepper, rocket leaf and hints of lychee. Sleek, vibrant and wonderfully energetic with a really youthful vivacity and a delicate tropical kiss on the finish. A delicious cool climate expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2022, WO Paarl, 13% Abv.
Made from a Certified Heritage Vineyard planted between 1977 and 1987 from Agter-Paarl with the use of up to 30% barrel fermented portion. The aromatics show a fruity candied opulence with notes of smoky straw, fynbos, peach rock candy and hints of green pear. The palate is rich and expressive with mouth watering layers of spicy white peach, greengage, green apple and hints of fig preserve on the long, persistent, textured finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Liefkoos Shiraz / Mourvedre / Cinsault Rose 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
An attractive pale salmon colour, the wine shows bright dusty chalky aromatics packed full of pear drops, crushed granite, crushed red cherry and crunchy wild strawberry fruits. The palate is cool, sleek and very precise with a delicious weightless concentration, lovely purity, mineral pithiness and impressive length. One for the lovers of Provençal Rose.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Bush Vine Pinotage 2021, WO Paarl, 13.5% Abv.
From a vineyard on the westerly slopes of Paarl mountain planted in 2000/1 with a small 5% addition of Grenache. Only a small amount of new large oak is used (15%) and mostly multi-passage 225 and 300 litre used barrels. Packed full of vibrancy and freshness with notes of bramble berry, forest fruits, tilled earth, black plum and hints of red apple. Super polished and sleek, the texture is silky, elegant and delicately exotic with lovely purple rock candy, Parma violets and a mouthwatering Fanta Grape-flavoured allure. The finish is bone dry, spicy and mineral with real balance and length. A very individual expression of Pinotage, but undoubtedly delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Cape Coast, 14% Abv.
High altitude fruit from the Helderberg and Agter-Paarl, makes for a very classy Cabernet Sauvignon with a sneaky 5% Cinsault, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc blended in. The aromatics show sweet red berry, red plum, red currant, raisined cranberries, cassis, tilled earth and delicate notes of sweet tobacco and tannery leather. On the palate the soft, seductive silky layers dominate, revealing a very fine textured, compact mouthfeel. A very impressive wine with great complexity, lovely granitic minerality and a delicate salinity on the finish.
Fruit from original vineyards on the farm planted 2001. 86% Syrah and 14% Mourvedre with 20% whole bunches, were fermented and aged 100% for 16 months in mostly used neutral 225 litre barrels with a 15% new French oak portion. The aromatics are lush and seductive with blueberry, black cherry, tart plum and subtle hints of dried herbs, cumin and peppercorns. Wonderfully pure, delicate and elegantly fresh, this is a very classy, considered, light touch Syrah made with real attention to detail. The finish is intense and focused with a fine weightless concentration.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Lievland Vineyard wines are imported into the UK by Berkmann Wines.
The 2023 edition of the Judgement of Wimbledon Grenache Tasting was held last year with one of the most impressive line-ups of Grenache wines to date, and the results were of course always going to be highly contentious. The 14-wine blind flight included three wines from Sierra de Gredos, the mountainous region west of Madrid, four wines from Priorat in Catalonia, one wine from Montsant next door to Priorat, one wine from Vinos de la Tierra Castilla y Leon, three old vine wines from South Africa, one wine from Rioja and one wine from the USA. It was indeed a spectacular array of wines that the tasters thought couldn’t be easily surpassed.
But of course, as another year has passed and another vintage hits the market, so many truly incredible 2021 Garnachas from Spain, among other regions, have become available and the prospects for a fourth consecutive Judgement of Wimbledon have never looked so tantalising! With the line up being restricted to circa 16 to 18 wines, there is, by necessity, a certain amount of pre-selection, that needs to take place before a final line-up can be agreed, and while the judges won’t know the final line up destined for the grand blind taste-off, they certainly get an initial insight into the quality they can expect by tasting in some of the preliminary Judgement of Wimbledon Tasting Pre-Selection assessments.
This year, one of the Kew-based judges volunteered to host one of the preliminary blind tastings and the below report gives a brief but illustrative snapshot of just what is in stall when the final Judgement of Wimbledon 2024 tasting occurs. Some mention should be made to the selection criteria as many people often ask why wines such as Chateau Rayas or some big, ripe Australian expressions are not included. The simple answer is that these wines, from USA, Australia and of course Chateauneuf-du-Pape, in the case of Rayas, are often simply too stand apart and unique, making their expressions incredibly obvious and very easy to identify. So, over many years, the focus has naturally moved to emphasise not only innate quality, but also minerality, freshness, terroir, and classical restraint… which seems to be the modern style of Grenache / Garnacha that has started to captivate the world in the past 3 to 5 years, led by Spain and South Africa, though of course, not exclusively.
With a special acknowledgment and thanks to global wine critic from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Luis Gutierrez, who contributed many suggestions for the preliminary tastings, proceedings kicked off in January 2024 with the following initial wines tasted blind:
Tasting Line Up (with group average scores):
1. 2021 Vina Zorzal, Senora de las Alturas – 94.1/100 score
2. 2021 Mas Martinet – Els Escurçons – 92.2/100 score
3. 2020 Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra – 94.9/100 score
7. 2020 Uvas Felices Reina de Los Deseos – 94.9/100
8. 2020 Bodegas Frontonio, El Jardín de Las Iguales Garnacha – 95.2/100
9. 2020 Uvas Felices La Mujer Canon – 95/100
10. 2020 Bruma del Arenero – 92.4/100
11. 2020 Bodegas Frontonio, Las Alas – 94.8/100
12. 2022 Sam Lambson, Experimental Grenache – 91.2/100
Or in order of scoring for individual judges:
Undoubtedly, Spain has made the category of Grenache almost its own with incredible tension, precision, minerality and power. This snapshot tasting was merely a teaser for what is lined up for the grand finale, with some of the above wines possibly making the Final Cut?
Watch out for my full report on the Judgement of Wimbledon 2024 in the coming weeks. It stands to be the pinnacle of Grenache perfection!
Clos Cantenac is a three-hectare wine property on Bordeaux’s right bank with vines planted on a combination of deep gravel, sand, and clay over limestone soils. It is situated close to the pre-historic “Megalith de Pierrefitte” in the Saint Emilion wine appellation and was purchased in 2007 by Martin Krajewski, the previous owner of Chateau de Sours and more latterly, Chateau Seraphine in Pomerol. Both Clos Cantenac in St Emilion and Château Seraphine in Pomerol – the properties are barely 5 km away from each other – follow similar strategies in the vineyard and winery having reintroduced cover crops to the vineyards and using only sustainable products and viticultural practices in order to protect the vines and the vineyard environment. With this Petit Cantenac, you certainly get the same feel of care and precision that goes into the Clos Cantenac Grand Vin but with greater accessibility for earlier drinking.
2019 forms the middle of the trilogy of three very high-quality Bordeaux vintages in 2018, 2019 and 2020, but is also one which may well eventually trump both its siblings for sheer depth, ripeness and power one day. But as Martin Krajewski freely admits, “… in the 20 years I have been in Bordeaux, there has not been two identical vintages despite all of the technological advancements and the significant investments in new wineries. It is still a question of how man and the vines respond to the weather that determines the quality and quantity.”
However, whilst 2019 was a very good to excellent vintage, it wasn’t at all straightforward with heat waves, a drought, and a rainy finish in late September, but they also enjoyed a long, dry summer and harvest with just enough rain and none of the disasters like the late spring frost of 2017 or the mildew that some growers experienced in 2018. The growing season got off to a slow start with a cool May, but it then warmed up considerably for the start of flowering just as growers approached the first glorious weekend of June. Some vineyards flowered successfully over these few days but then with intermittent rain over the next week or so, it cooled down considerably with the result that many bunches had uneven fruit set, with ‘coulure’ and ‘millerandage’ which is unformed and variable or undersized berries respectively. The impact appeared very varied from one area to another with some vineyards completely unaffected, whilst others had uneven bunches from one row or even one plant to the next.
Once the flowering was out of the way, the fruit grew in fine weather, becoming hot and sunny from the end of the month and throughout a very warm July. Temperatures reached a stifling 40ºC on 23rd July and many of the vines shut down although thankfully, heavy rain then fell on the Friday 26th July but only lasted two days. The July heat wave did not impact the fruit negatively as the grapes had only just formed and were yet to change colour but then came more hot weather in the second half of August, which lasted well into September with the chillier nights and early mornings proving to be ideal for the healthy development of the fruit. The harvest at Clos Cantenac started on the 11th of September and only finished in early October.
One can conclude that the best recent Bordeaux vintages such as 2009, 2010 and 2016, also had just enough rain (but not too much), although 2019 also had a lot of rain early in the year as well as a wet spring, so the vines were better able to cope with the dry summer through to September, making for structured, ripe, powerful wines with plenty of concentration.
Petit Cantenac 2019, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux, 14% Abv.
The 2019 Petit Cantenac is a classical right bank blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that was aged in 20% new French oak and 80% 2nd and 3rd year oak for 12 months. Seductively deep coloured with a purple garnet core, the wine is beautifully expressive, boasting a lifted perfumed aromatics of violets and cherry blossoms over notes of black cherries, kirsch liquor, baked plums and black currants with subtle hints of graphite and vanilla pod oak spice. A wonderfully accessible and alluring wine, even in its youth, this classy 2019 vintage delivers multiple layers of plush, fleshy black berry fruited concentration that melts into crème de cassis, black raspberry compote, mocha, and subtle milk chocolate nuances. The tannins are mineral but tensile, emphasising the wine’s stony, gravelly spiciness, combining with soft, fresh acids that add harmony and balance to the fruit intensity. This may only be the second wine of Clos Cantenac, but it has all the composure and complexity of many far more ambitious Saint Emilion Grand Cru reds on the market. Drink on release and over the next 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Clos Cantenac and Petit Cantenac are available in the UK from specialist fine wine merchant Museum Wines for circa £59.99 and £40.99 per bottle.
There is a cliché in the UK wine trade that if you want to taste the very best Swiss wines, you must travel to Switzerland to find them. Outside of drinking copious amounts of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Italian wines, the local Swiss consumers are known to be very protective of their very best producers and sourcing the more interesting boutique wineries outside of Switzerland can be a massive challenge. So when the opportunity came up for me to join one of my French importers on an exploratory visit recently, I grabbed it with both hands.
Our main port of call was to meet and taste the impressive wines of Alexandre Delétraz. The winemaker and owner- founder of Cave des Amandiers in 2007. In his 40’s, Alexandre is definitely one of the more exciting producers with not only an incredible passion for the old vineyards of the Valais AOC but he also follows a wine philosophy to create some incredibly pure, precise, but characterful wines that show their true sense of place.
In the winery, I noticed a sign “LEARN THE RULES LIKE A PROFESSIONAL, SO YOU CAN BREAK THEM LIKE AN ARTIST ~ PABLO PICASSO.” When you get to know Alexandre a little better and you taste his wines, this statement becomes even more pertinent. It is undoubtedly his desire to create great wines in exceptional terroirs, and to try his best to reveal the qualities of the native Valais grape varieties in an authentic environment, giving the wines time to grow in the cool darkness and calm of his own cellar.
His winery was created in 2008, and after vinifying the first vintage in a mazot, then in a tractor garage in Fully, he found a more suitable location in the town of Saillon. He moved into this new cellar in 2011 and although the winemaking facilities are modern, his working techniques remain essentially artisanal. The Cave des Amandiers vines are maintained manually due to the very complicated topography of the steep hillsides and Alexandre’s 8.2 hectares are made up of many small terraces which range from 450m to 900m in altitude. The climate is extraordinarily favorable for the vines, but in order to always guarantee impeccable quality and optimal maturity of the berries, Alexandre carries out drastic sorting of every harvest. The yields are naturally low and adapted to the vigor of each of the parcels, to ensure a good concentration of aromas, fruit and grape polyphenols.
Vines in Valais are essentially mountain viticulture. Among their Italian neighbours, Alexandre readily speaks of “viticoltura eroica” for vineyards located in this type of exceptionally rugged topography. This “heroic viticulture” is perfectly illustrated by the different entities that the Cave des Amandiers has: dizzying slopes where the vines sometimes cling painfully to the hillsides, numerous small terraces supported by ancient dry-stone walls, with almost non-existent mechanization. It is this slope, these dry-stone walls, in this challenging environment of extraordinary diversity as well as a particular climate in Valais which makes it possible to obtain impeccable balance, freshness and optimal maturity in the grapes. Indeed, during the growing season (from April to October), this climate is typically Mediterranean, and certainly viticulturally far superior to the rest of French-speaking Switzerland.
There are also other more local climatic factors, and in fact one cannot ignore the role played by the ‘Foehn’, a hot wind which dries the grapes during the harvest period, but also at a microclimatic level; the heat generated by the heating of the walls during the day continues to be released beneficially at night. Altitude and exposure also play a very big role, and Alexandre notices the very great heterogeneities from one plot to another, making it possible to cultivate numerous grape varieties with very different characteristics.
Since 2008, the Cave des Amandiers has certainly been a very unique project in the AOC Valais for the creation and rehabilitation of many estate mountain vineyards made up of vertiginous and sometimes abandoned terraces. To bring together different parcels of vines into a single 8-hectare estate, it was necessary to acquire around 200 plots from 70 different owners! Many of these vines have been replanted with massale selections of endemic and traditional grape varieties, drawn from the rich ampelography of the Valais region. Most of these vines are located on the gneisses – granitic soils – in the commune of Fully, a geological exception and a veritable wine gem of Valais.
Wines
There are several native grape variety in the Valais, some that are unique in the wine world. Extreme fragility to winds which often threatens to tear its leaves to shreds and break its branches. But a wine of great class and potential that is still barely touched is the Petite Arvine, produced from terraced vines located in and around Fully. It expresses the freshest and spring-like side of this grape variety and Alexandre works hard to control and channel its vigor, energy and acidity through aging the young wines on their fine lees. There are aromas of lime, wisteria and rhubarb, elderflower and honey, and the palates portray a fresh, lemony vitality and energy with a surprisingly iodized and mineral finish. As it ages, it becomes nuttier and more complex on the nose and palate.
After a day of visiting many of Alexandre’s unique terraced vineyard plots, we returned to the winery to taste his fascinating selection of wines.
White Wines Tasted:
Caves des Amandiers Fendant 2022, AOC Valois (Chasselas)
One of the cellars top selling wines, a bright, crisp, crystalline Chasselas that was unfortunately sold out already at the time of my visit. From all accounts, not a wine to miss!
Caves des Amandiers Heida 2020, AOC Valois
Also known as the Savagnin cultivar, this white is a little richer while retaining wonderful freshness and just a delicate hint of struck flint reduction on the nose.
Caves des Amandiers Heida 2021, AOC Valais
Still fresher and nervier, this 2021 is wonderfully aromatic and vibrant with a lovely linearity and precision.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Heida de Fully 2022, AOC Valais
This Village wine is richer and fuller with oak spice, lovely palate depth and a complex, delicately savoury character with a rounder, softer texture and concentration. Beautiful.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Ermitage de Saillon 2022, AOC Valais
Made from Marsanne, this beauty offers pear and yellow orchard fruits over a soft textured palate that reveals a pithy minerality and a wonderful saline, yellow citrus finish with lemony acids.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Ermitage de Fully 2022, AOC Valais
From a small 1200 metre square plot, this wine boasts a more Rhoney French styling with more intense notes of pear puree, green banana, and a pithy minerality over a stony, taut, broody complex palate.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Petite Arvine de Fully 2022, AOC Valais
This delicious 2022 shows pure, bright aromatics of green pear, Poire William spirit, and a hint of struck flint reduction. The palate is fresh, zippy and bright with real character and a seductively mouthwatering finish. Superb.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Petite Arvine de Leytron 2022, AOC Valais
This expression shows more perfume, hints of peach and white flowers. The palate is rich and textural with notes of guava before deliciously zippy fresh acids on the long finish. Very good.
Caves des Amandiers Les Parcellaires Petite Arvine En Anzé Saillon 2022, AOC Valais
This delightful 2022 shows green apple and pithy spice before a pear puree concentration, a fine palate tension, hints of bon bons, finishing with a delicately stony, reductive persistence. Very smart indeed.
Caves des Amandiers Les Parcellaires Petite Arvine Les Seyes Fully 2022, AOC Valais
Grown on Gneiss, this expression is more spicy and rich with tangy notes of apples and pears before a taut mineral complexity on the classically dry, stony finish. Lovely complexity on display.
Red Wines Tasted:
Caves des Amandiers Syrah 2019, AOC Valais
This classic Syrah is sourced from Fully and Leytron and shows delightful aromatics of plum and black berry compote, cured meats, black peppercorns, and an earthy olive hint. The palate is soft and fleshy from this warmer vintage without obscuring its stony tannins and spicy, pithy, black berry fruited finish.
Caves des Amandiers Gamay de Fully 2022, AOC Valais, 13.8% Abv.
Also grown on Gneiss, this wine shows a rich vein of stony raspberry fruits using 50% whole bunches in the ferment. This lends extra grip and minerality and the tannins are stony and mineral before giving way to layers of framboise and strawberry pips. A very serious Gamay.
Caves des Amandiers Les Villages Humagne Rouge de Laytron 2019 Red Blend, AOC Valais, 14% Abv.
Another serious offering packed full of stony strawberry and red currant. The wine is beautifully refined and ‘pretty’ with a sleek creamy, elegant texture and a seriously stony, mineral finish. Lovely weightless concentration and structure lend good age ability to the wine. Very impressive.
Caves des Amandiers Les Parcellaires Cornalin Combe d’Enfer 2022, AOC Valais
This attractive red picked at 15hl/ha shows lashings of cherry and chocolate, cocoa, and Dolcetto-like fruit spice over spicy black berries. Super plush with creamy silky tannins, this is a wonderfully fine-grained red with a plum compote length on the finish. Very fine indeed.
Caves des Amandiers Les Parcellaires Gamay d’Euloz Fully 2020, AOC Valais, 13% Abv.
This was apparently a fresh vintage in the Valais, and this semi-maceration carbonique Gamay displays layers of red currant, strawberry as well as deeper, darker foresty black berry fruits. Aged in 50% oak and 50% glass and amphorae, the palate is beautifully cool and creamy with delicately plush spicy nuances and a complex, stony mineral tannin finish. Lovely vibrancy and freshness.
If you are looking for high quality whites and reds made with modern techniques but with a firm nod towards artisanal tradition, the wines from the Caves des Amandiers represent a real ‘must-try’ range. I certainly look forward to returning in 2024 to hopefully taste the new vintages with Alexandre and explore some more of his unique vineyard parcels in the Valais region.
The spectacular wines of Jean-Yves Bizot represent the pinnacle of wine quality in a region graced with some of the most sought-after labels in the world of fine wine. Jean-Yves’s strict and uncompromising standards in the vineyards and his enviable old vine parcels in Vosne-Romanée combine to offer a stellar line-up of miniscule production red Burgundies built for ageing. Jean-Yves is a respected professor of viticulture and oenology in Beaune and lives in Vosne across the road from Henri Jayer’s old residence.
Sunrise in January 2024 over Gevrey-Chambertin.
Indeed, the two vignerons had neighbouring parcels in Vosne-Romanée and often discussed vinification techniques while working their vines. As a result, Jean-Yves decided to adapt some of Jayer’s techniques in his own cellar (in particular, whole cluster fermentation at cool temperatures in conical wooden vats) and is now making exceptional Vosne-Romanée wines that defy quality comparisons.
The epic new Corton Charlemagne 2022
Jean-Yves has undoubtedly forged his own unique winemaking path and today is recognized as producing some of the most iconic wines in Burgundy, following his own distinct and rigorous philosophy in the vineyards and in the cellar. Unsurprisingly, the wines of Domaine Bizot are now regarded as the pinnacle of Pinot Noir perfection and are coveted by the greatest Burgundy collectors and connoisseurs around the world, joining the ranks of other iconic names such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Tasting the Corton-Charlemagne 2022 from barrel with Jean-Yves in January 2024.
Jean-Yves Bizot recently made some exciting new purchases in Burgundy, including 0.14 hectares of prime Le Charlemagne Chardonnay vines as well as further north in the Côtes-de-Nuits, terroirs that he believes are still under-appreciated by the current generation but which were very well known and highly regarded centuries ago – both of his Côtes-de-Nuits vineyards are just south of Dijon: Bourgogne “Le Chapitre” and Marsannay “Clos du Roy”, both of which are old vine parcels. His range is completed by his magnificent Bourgogne Blanc that comes from an old parcel of sélection massale Chardonnay right next to Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot. Bizot’s wines are bottled by hand, barrel by barrel, without filtration, and are serious Burgundies for the patient connoisseur, emphasizing purity, subtlety, power and elegance.
Some Bizot vineyards next to his Vosne-Romanee winery.
Domaine Jean Yves Bizot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022
The two specific single vineyards of En Charlemagne and Le Charlemagne make up half of this famous appellation, while white grapes grown in seven other vineyards may also be sold as Corton-Charlemagne. As a result there can be a wide divergence in styles between earlier picked south-facing locations and cooler, later picked western slopes around Pernand-Vergelesses. Jean-Yves’s 0.14 hectares of vines are located in the prestigious Le Charlemagne vineyard and produce a meagre two new French oak barrels, or 600 bottles, of this golden Grand Cru nectar. A wonderfully sophisticated first showing of this wine reveals a rich vinous tapestry tightly packed with savoury aromatics of leesy yellow citrus, fresh rain on limestone, wet straw, baking herbs and glacé lemon rind. The concentration on the palate is astonishing – glycerol, piercing, fresh and beautifully crystalline and saline with intense layers of lemon and lime cordial, green apple pastille over an electric laser-like acidity with just a subtle kiss of lemon butter and vanilla pod spice on the finish. An astounding wine of incredible power, focus and precision, the likes of which you rarely see from Corton-Charlemagne. A wine that is sure to be legendary even before its official release.
(Wine Safari Score: 99-100/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot are imported and distributed exclusively in the UK by Wimbledon Wine Cellar. Contact: andrew@wimbledonwinecellar.com to enquire about available allocations and up coming new releases like the Corton-Charlemagne.
Owner Jose Conde and the Stark Conde Winery often describe themselves first and foremost as a premium Cabernet Sauvignon producer and of course why wouldn’t you when your vineyards are situated on some of the most attractive Cabernet-friendly Stellenbosch vineyards in the Western Cape. So it is always interesting to taste their “entry level” Estate Blend Cabernet Sauvignon new release as any winery is only as good as its most modestly priced wine, or so the saying goes.
Fortunately, there is no compromising when it comes to quality and this beautifully accomplished wine is sourced from four different blocks on the farm where the soils and aspects differ slightly, but with all vines planted on ideal decomposed granite iron-rich red soils typical of the Stellenbosch mountain vineyards. In addition to the Cabernet Sauvignon blocks, two additional blocks are incorporated into the Estate Blend to add a little extra salt and pepper complexity, leaving the final blend at 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. For this cuvee, after fermentation is completed, only 300 litre French oak barrels are used, of which around 30% is new oak. Aged for 20 months in barrel, the wines are then bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Looking down over the farm from the Three Pines Single Vineyard.
While winemaker Rudger van Wyk has now moved on from Stark Conde in 2023, he was certainly instrumental in establishing the Stark Conde Cabernet Sauvignon wines of the Estate Blend, the Three Pines Single Vineyard Cabernet and the Oude Nektar Single Vineyard Cabernet as some of the most respected expressions of premium Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Stellenbosch. 2020 of course saw the tail end of the drought and the harvest began early and ended relatively early. Average temperatures were moderate with cool evenings, the resultant fruit of good quality with a fine balance between fruit, acid and tannins, although yields were decidedly on the low side this vintage.
Stark Conde Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, WO Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The 2020 Stark Conde Cabernet Sauvignon is another charming wine with an alluring aromatics of pressed violets, sweet piquant black berries, black cherry, burnt wood embers, sweet cedar wood shavings and a stony graphite spice that wafts from the glass. The palate is fresh and vibrant, deep and layered, with a core of zippy black currant fruits, soft black plum nuances, black cherries, fine grained tannins, and a sumptuous depth of spicy granitic minerality. A very well honed, harmonious, full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon expression that combines a wonderful balance, finesse and harmony with the characteristic Jonkershoek Valley fruit intensity and structure. Drink on release and over 10+ years comfortably.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Stark Conde wines are imported into the UK by specialist South African merchant Museum Wines and the wine retails for circa £26 per bottle.
Saint Emilion is one of Bordeaux’s largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, Saint Estephe, Pauillac, Saint Julien and Margaux put together. Clos Cantenac’s 3-hectare plot of vines are largely situated on either deep gravels or shallow sandy soils over gravel, clay and broken limestone. Owner Martin Krajewski, who also owns the famous Chateau Seraphine in Pomerol, just a stone’s throw down the road, has been working since 2007 to elevate Clos Cantenac to one of the most respected boutique red wine properties in Saint Emilion.
With a trilogy of “exceptional vintages” in 2018, 2019 and 2020, Clos Cantenac’s new releases have really started to attract the attention of not only the world’s top critics, but also fine wine collectors. Indeed, Neal Martin, writing for Vinous.com, described the 2019 from barrel as the finest wine produced at the property to date.
Walking the Clos Cantenac vineyards in St Emilion with owner Martin Krajewski in September 2023.
I visited Martin Krajewski in September 2023, just as the harvest was starting on the right bank and took the opportunity to walk his well-groomed vineyards in not only Saint Emilion but also Pomerol. Now with the 2019 vintage newly arrived in the UK market, I thought I would take another look at this wine that showed so much promise from barrel at En-primeur.
Clos Cantenac 2019, St Emilion Grand Cru, 14% Abv.
Another ripe opulent year in Bordeaux that forms part of the trilogy of famous blockbuster vintages … 2018, 2019 and 2020. One sniff of this wine leaves you in no doubt of its rich, exotic, plush 100% Merlot expression with intricately interwoven vanilla pod, praline, and wood spice notes that melt into aromatics of sweet mulberries, black cherry, smoky burnt wood embers and a mesmerising stony graphite minerality. Beautifully full bodied and muscular on the palate, there is a tantalising depth of salty black currant and black cherry fruit with layers of pithy plum compote, soft liquorice and liquid mineral tannins, seamlessly wrapped into a fleshy core of right bank opulence. Give this beauty another 2 to 3 years to fully unwind into something really quite special. (Only 8,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The latest release of Martin Krajewski’s Clos Cantenac 2019 is available from specialist fine wine merchant Museum Wines @ £59pb Inc.
Since the maiden vintage of the Alheit’s Cartology white blend in 2011, the Alheit’s philosophy of old vines and special pockets of Cape terroir has seen them produce ever more critically acclaimed wines from all around the Cape. With the 2022 vintage of the Hereafter Here 100% Chenin Blanc from notable parcels in the Swartland, Upper Blaauwklippen, Polkadraai, and Paardeberg, and the Cartology 92% Chenin Blanc, 8% Sémillon blend from old vine Chenin vineyards from the Skurfberg, Malmesbury, Perdeberg, Bottelary, Upper Blaauwklippen, False Bay, Tygerberg, and the third oldest Sémillon block in South Africa, La Colline in Franschhoek, planted in 1936 (two older blocks being planted 1902 at Eikehof and 1905 at Landau du Val).
These two wines offer up some of the most critically acclaimed South African white wines from arguably one of the most celebrated South African winemakers after Eben Sadie (though Chris and Suzanne Alheit only trail him by a few years age wise). They have since made their home on the farm, Hemelrand (Heaven’s Edge) on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge and have mentored some of SA’s top winemaking talent in the form of Franco Lourens, previously assistant winemaker and now full-time winemaker and owner of Lourens Family Wines.
While collectors and connoisseurs have long since chased allocations of Chris’s top single site Chenin Blanc wines like Magnetic North and Huilkrans, the heightened quality, focus and precision on the Cartology vineyard blend specifically has been notable in recent years. Both the Cartology and Hereafter Here cuvees are now almost as tightly allocated as the single vineyard cuvees, so drinkers and collectors should definitely not overlook these wines when buying benchmark Chenin Blanc whites from South Africa.
Alheit Vineyards Hereafter Here Chenin Blanc 2022, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.
Made from a mixture of young and older vines aged between 5 and 40 years old, after 18 months of elevage with 66% aged on its fine lees, the complex aromatics reveal a rich leesy, savoury yellow fruited nose with pithy white citrus, peach stone, bitter almonds, dried herbs, orange blossom and hints of lemon oil. Rich but not too overtly “fruity”, the palate is plush, harmonious and textural with hints of honeydew melon, lemon pastille, white peach and savoury leesy biscuit hints. Really quite serious, and seriously delicious! Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Alheit Vineyards Cartology 2022, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.
This flagship blend from Chris Alheit is made from 92% Chenin Blanc and 8% Semillon grapes sourced from eight disparate old vine vineyards of between 40 and 60 years old. The youthful aromatics display a melange of granitic minerality over notes of peach, tangerine, orange oil and wet hay nuances. The 2022 is beautifully cool, harmonious and overtly mineral-led with dusty dried herbs, white peach, green pear and yellow stone fruits. The acids are gentle, soft spoken but deliciously tangy and the finish creamy, leesy and delightfully mouth-coating with and impressively persistent length. Yet another superb Cartology release from Chris ‘Butch’ Alheit. Drink now and over the next 10 to 12+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Cartology 2022 is priced at circa £34.99 and the Hereafter Here 2022 at £26.99 inc. Both wines are available from specialist South African merchant Museum Wines.
Guidalberto was always known as the official second wine of Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia even though it was a slightly different blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot compared to Sassicaia’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc cuvee. First released in 2000 to mark the Millenium, it was originally conceived to be more approachable earlier than its bigger sibling Sassicaia but still retain an impressive age worthiness if cellared.
As time has passed, the Guidalberto cuvee has taken on a more individual identity to the point where it is now regarded by Tenuta San Guido as its own wine and no longer a notional second wine of Sassicaia. As such, construction commenced in 2022/3 to build Guidalberto its own dedicated winery and this is expected to be completed in late 2025 or early 2026.
Tenuta San Guido’s director of winemaking, Carlo Paoli, is on record for saying that he thought the Guidalberto 2021 was the finest vintage ever produced. So after tasting and reviewing the newly released Sassicaia 2021 recently, I decided to pull a bottle of the Guidalberto 2021 out the cellar and see how it’s looking after an extra year in bottle. With stocks still available on the open market at affordable prices, this wine seems a particularly wise buy for circa £220-£250 IB per 6 compared to Sassicaia 2021’s rather punchy £1,250 IB per 6 new release price.
Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto 2021, IGT Toscana, 13.5% Abv.
There doesn’t seem to be complete agreement amongst growers as to whether 2021 in Bolgheri was an easy or difficult vintage. What certainly is in agreement is that this cooler Tuscan vintage yielded some incredibly taut, intense, vibrant wines. Aged in 85% French and 15% American oak 225 litre barrels, 40% new, for 15 months, this beautiful Guidalberto 2021 boasts fabulously piercing aromatics of violets, black cherries, blackberry compote and seductive dark plum over sweet exotic Christmas spices and stony graphite notes. The oak and vanilla wood spice is still busy integrating with the super taut, tight palate fruit intensity, perhaps at a slightly slower pace than in a riper, warmer vintage. But it’s the palate’s chiselled focus and linearity that marks this vintage as a true stand out expression amongst more recent dryer, warmer years. The texture is laser focused but also wonderfully transparent showing the true mineral terroir characteristics of Bolgheri together with a wonderfully fresh, tart, glassy acidity supported by sleek, polished marble tannins on a pithy cherry cola packed finish. A vintage to be truly celebrated but also one best to bury in the cellar for an another 8 to 10+ years.
Few wine estates have captured the collective imagination of the wine trade and fine wine consumers in recent years quite like Sassicaia has, making every new vintage release a notable event in the annual fine wine calendar. “Each vintage is a small but determinant step in preserving our unique heritage and creating a long-lasting legacy. We feel a profound responsibility in offering to the world not simply a wine, but a symbol of virtuous coexistence of man and nature”, states Sassicaia General Manager Carlo Paoli.
On the 2,500-hectare estate, 115 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines are cultivated on the estate-owned plots of Castiglioncello, Aia Nuova, Cerreta, Sassicaia di Sopra and San Martino. Planted on limestone rich soils, the vineyards are located at an average altitude of between 100 and 300 meters above sea level, with exposure to the West / Southwest.
With the perfect terroir, all that is needed for an exceptional vintage of Sassicaia is an optimal vintage, and this is exactly what the estate experienced during the lead up to the 2021 vintage. The autumn of 2020 was characterized by mild temperatures and alternating rainfall. From mid-October to the second half of December the rains were more frequent, and temperatures dropped below the seasonal norm. Except for the week of Christmas, the remaining winter period was rainy and intensely cold, conditions which favoured the resting vines after several consecutive hot, dry seasons.
Sassicaia barrel cellar
The situation changed drastically in the last week of February with a sharp rise in daytime temperatures, almost spring-like, and sunny days. March was dry and generally sunny. In the very first days of April, temperatures were mild and from mid-April they began to drop dramatically again, approaching 0°C at night. Throughout the month of April and a good part of the month of May, sunny days and sporadic rains were alternating, sometimes even stormy, but with a continuation of fresh air and temperatures below the seasonal norm, especially in the early hours of the morning and at night. From the second ten days of May the weather situation changed with a substantial rise in temperatures and the definitive arrival of the beautiful season.
The vines were not affected by the strong heat of the summer months and the development of the vegetation continued regularly, although with smaller bunches and berries, suggesting a harvest of reduced quantity but also greater concentration of fruit. The progress of ripening at the end of August was stable and constant, favouring optimal phenolic ripening, and harvesting operations for the 52nd vintage of Sassicaia commenced on the 1st September under ideal weather conditions.
Sassicaia Le Difese 2022, IGT Toscana Rosso, 13.5% Abv.
0.32g/l RS| 5.60g/l TA | 3.50pH
This traditional Cabernet Sauvignon – Sangiovese blend is a super bright and crystalline offering, the aromatics subtle and sultry with a delicate smoky blackberry melange of cherry and juniper with a delicate black plum spice. In the mouth the wine is super sleek and elegant possessing ample fruit weight, silky creamy tannins and a picante, salty black currant persistence. Another wonderfully well honed, harmonious le Difese that is deliciously forward and ready to drink now and over the next 8 to 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2021, Bolgheri-Sassicaia DOCG, 14.10% Abv.
0.15g/l RS| 6.10g/l TA| 3.43pH
A truly wonderful vintage of freshness, elegance and purity, this super attractive 2021 release boasts seductive aromatics of roasted herbs, sweet sappy sandalwood spice, picante black cherry and bramble berry nuances intricately interwoven with hints of sweet, moist tobacco leaf, black cherry kirsch liquor, and a subtle crushed limestone minerality. The palate is silky and seamless, beautifully finessed into a weightless, perfectly formed fine wine with lacey tannins, a soft intricate intensity of fruit and an incredible red and black berry fruit concentration, all in perfect harmony. This wine certainly speaks of greatness and overt purity and precision that, in this cooler vintage, come together in perfect synergy. Undoubtedly ranked among Sassicaia’s greatest ever releases… and for me personally, a wine that absolutely personifies the cooler vintage affinity of this world class winery. Drink from 2025 to 2048+.
(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Tenuta San Guido wines are imported into the UK by Armit Wines and are available for retail on allocation from fine wine merchant Museum Wines.
