After an illustrious few years as head winemaker at Stark-Condé in the Jonkershoek Valley, which also involved launching the dynamic joint venture of Kara Tara, in partnership with Jose Condé, in 2023 Rudger decided it was time to spread his wings and fly off to new pastures.
Following a succinct appointment process with Doolhof Winery in Wellington, he is now settled in there producing some very exciting wines for both Doolhof as well as himself. I recently review Rudger’s highly accomplished New Dawn Chenin Blanc 2024 (96/100 GSMW) and now take a look at two of his newly released reds.
New Dawn Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.
This more accessible red blend from Rudger van Wyk is made up of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Shiraz, 27% Grenache, 11% Cinsault and 5% Carignan. While youthful and incredibly willing, the aromatics are forward, lifted and generous showing a medley of red berry fruits, sweet red cherry, strawberry compote and creamy raspberry nuances. Texturally supple and very elegant, the vivacious acidity combines with a crunchy red berry fruit intensity to make this wine seriously delicious, with purity of fruit and silky elegance its true highlights. Accessible and juicy, this wine is good to savour on release and over the next 5 to 6 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
New Dawn by Rudger van Wyk Dark Leap Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.
Rudger van Wyk’s maiden red release from his New Dawn project is a tantalising Southern Rhone-style red blend of 58% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 17% Grenache and 5% Cinsault. A vibrant bright cherry red in the glass, the aromatics are incredibly pure and bright showing a crystalline vitality and precision. Incredibly perfumed and lifted, the nose is tightly packed with notes of lavender and white flowers, glacé red cherries, cranberry, and saline hints of black currant. Medium bodied, concentrated and intricately structured, there is a real core of energy to the wine driven by a tangy fresh acidity and tart bright red cherry and red currant fruits with silky soft powdery tannins and long, mouthwatering finish. This wine shows serious winemaking prowess with its weightless intensity, harmonious elegance, and a piercing focused length. Unforced and effortless, this is a cracking new label debut from Rudger that’s worth tracking down. Drink now to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The New Dawn wines are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.
A new range started by Sam Raats in 2022, some experimental wines were initially offered to the Raats wine club. Named Proxima Centauri to represent the proximity of the next generation of the Raats family in the continuum of the family business, the first vintage was a small production Chenin Blanc in 2022.
Two new wines made by next generation winemaker Sam Raats for the Raats Family Wines Wine Club membership.
The next releases are the 2023 Red Blend and a 2024 Chenin Blanc from the Fountain vineyard (circa 1 hectare) that makes the Raats Cape Winemakers Guild offering together with some fruit from the Raats Old Vine Chenin Blanc vineyard, both in the Polkadraai Hills ward.
Raats Family Wines Proxima Centauri Chenin Blanc 2024, WO Polkadraai Hills, 13% Abv.
The 2024 consists of a single 225 litre 5th fill French oak barrel in which the wine was barrel fermented and aged for circa 10 months yielding only 270 bottles. The aromatics are impressively rich and complex, intricately layered with notes of white peaches, waxy green apples and tangerine peel over hints of wet straw, dried herbs, bay leaves and a very subtle dusty mineral granitic undertone. The wine is crisp and structured in the mouth, chiselled and taut with a fabulously bright acidity, layers of sweet orange peel, naartjie and granny smith apples. Beautiful vibrancy, full of energy with a long piercing tangy concentration on the finish. A very individual and impressive Chenin Blanc. Drink from 2025 to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Raats Family Wines Proxima Centauri Red Blend 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.3% Abv.
Fruit sourced from a single block of Bottelary Hills Cabernet Sauvignon that normally goes to the MR de Compostella. Two barrels were made but one was sacrificed to the MR blend. The remaining barrel was blended with some Polkadraai Hills Merlot from a vineyard that also normally contributes to MR as well, making up a final blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot that was aged for 18 months in a single 300 litre French oak barrel before bottling. The aromatics are incredibly perfumed and spicy, showing red and black berry fruits, sweet cedar, lead pencil, iodine and graphite nuances. Hints of sweet dried herbs and wet stone minerality follow to the palate that is deliciously fresh, lithe, and supple, light on its feet, vibrant and full of vivacity, showing tangy red currant fruits, sweet damson plum, pithy black currant and a sleek stony minerality. Young and embryonic at the moment but shows an elegant exuberance that promises to age incredibly well over the next 10+ years. (370 bottles produced with a few magnums)
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Contact Bruwer@raats.co.za to receive more information on joining the Raats Family Wines membership list.
The story of how the red wine focused winery of Natte Valleij started making the Axle Chenin Blanc is now famous. Quite simply, Alex Milner finally gave in and agreed to make a white wine for his wife after several requests. Still the only white in his range, this Old Vine WO Darling Chenin Blanc from the Swartland has created its own unique following with each annual release selling out rapidly.
Until this vintage, Alex used a basket-press to extract the juice for the grapes, accumulating up an impressive 80 hours of manual pressing in 2023, which he says “practically finished me off!”. So, he has now bought a pneumatic press and the 2024 vintage was done mechanically, which means that the wine was exposed to oxygen for less time and the 2024 is notably lighter in colour and fresher in character than the 2023 vintage.
Old Vine Certified Heritage Vineyard planted in 1985.
Natte Valleij Axle Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2024, WO Darling, 13% Abv.
The 2024 vintage is proving to be a good one for many of South Africa’s top white wines and this beautiful new Old Vine dryland bush vine Chenin Blanc release from Alex Milner at Natte Valleij is no exception. Aged for 9 months in barrel, the aromatics show a beautifully pure, crisp, crystalline delineation that’s tightly packed with yellow honeysuckle, pineapple chunks in syrup, white peaches and sweet granadilla before more subtle hints of tangerine, apricots and dried guava develop. The deep Granitic soils give the palate an incredible clarity, purity and wound spring tension with the pineapple and passion fruit layers gently buffered by stony mineral phenolics and bright, mouthwatering, tangy acids. The cool 13% alcohol is simply the cherry on the cake giving the wine a fresh, suave, sophisticated elegance. Pure class. Drink now to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Natte Valleij wines are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.
The 2024 Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc was the earliest harvest of this vineyard ever as the region experienced tremendous heatwaves up the West Coast and a generally earlier vintage across the Western Cape. As a result, the 2024 harvest involved and initial earlier pick for freshness and a slightly later pick for ripeness and body. This process might explain the tantalising interplay on the nose and palate between taut, tense, fresh flavours and richer, honied exotic fruit notes, components that marry incredibly well in the final blend to deliver a wine that is a slight departure from Sakkie’s more mineral, saline, pithy, maritime Weskus style.
The vineyards in Koekenaap are located around 5kms from the ice-cold Atlantic Ocean on well drained Sandstone soils. Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, then taken to a cold room and cooled down for one night. The next day the grapes were whole bunch pressed in a membrane press, with the juice being taken to a stainless steel tank for natural cold settling. No enzymes were added except for a little sulphur.
Sakkie in his Koekenaap Chenin Blanc vineyard.
Clear juice was racked off the next day into a stainless steel tank and some 500 litre barrels for natural fermentation to start. Fermentation took about 120 days (the longest fermentation time to date). Afterwards, all the finished wine was moved into old 500 litre barrels to age for 12 months on its gross lees before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is the first Crayfish that underwent 100% Malolactic Fermentation.
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2024, WO Koekenaap, 13.41% Abv.
3.2g/l RS | 7.7g/l TA | 3.02p
The 2024 Crayfish Chenin Blanc is a very impressive creation boasting a rich, golden bronzed yellow hue in the glass. In this vintage, Sakkie seems to have shifted to a higher gear with a far more elaborate peacock’s tail array of exotic aromatics. Noticeably richer and more intense, there are layers of dried apricot, white peach, pineapple, and green apple with top notes of white blossom and tangerine citrus peel. The pithy pineappley fruit intensity does initially mask some of the maritime salinity and gravelly minerality but linger over your glass a little longer and these Weskus hallmarks eventually reveal themselves. The palate shows incredible depth and explosive intensity, fleshy and broad with lashings of tangy yellow orchard fruits, tart pineapple chunks, peaches in honey, salted caramel, and crystallised green apple on the finish. I don’t know if Sakkie has discovered a few new tricks in the cellar or if the vintage has played into his hands with graceful precision, but I suspect it’s a combination of both. This is undoubtedly a statement wine, a wine that demands attention and then delivers in bucket loads. The slight hint of added exoticism definitely suits Sakkie’s winemaking style! I am simply blown away by this new release! Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines are available from award winning South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.
Drawing on the decades of wine experience of Schalk Burger’s Welbedacht Estate in Wellington, Western Cape, sees the winery launch two new blends that will hit the UK market soon. While the Welbedacht farm was only bought in 1997, the original historical farm dates back as far as the 1830’s.
In 2000, Schalk Burger Senior decided to pursue his dream of producing his very own range of wines and the 1,200 ton Welbedacht cellar was completed in time for the 2005 harvest. Since then, the estate has produced some of the finest quality grapes in the whole of Wellington and their wines are now among the quality leaders for the Wellington region.
Welbedacht Oakdene Cape Blanc de Blancs White Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.55% Abv.
An attractively aromatic new white blend from the Welbedacht Estate, this youthful Oakdene 2024 shows a distinctively lifted bouquet of white flowers, mint leaf, dried oregano and thyme with an underlying pithy white citrus fruit and wet stone minerality. Deliciously lush and tangy in the mouth, the palate it textural and fleshy with notes of grassy gooseberry, ripe papaya, ruby grapefruit, and white peach nuances. Vibrant and fresh, the finish is glycerol and long with delicately savoury herbal hints. This is a wonderfully versatile white, perfect with or without food accompaniment. Drink now to 2028+.
(Wine Safari Score: 90/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Welbedacht Oakdene Cape Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 14.68% Abv.
The new Oakdene red Cape Blend offers a cornucopia of plush ripe flavours, majestically perfumed and fragrant with earthy black currant, black plum, earthy mulberry, eucalyptus and delicate spearmint nuances. The palate is equally inviting, fully loaded with sweet black and blueberry fruits, earthy plum compote and spicy black cherries before vanilla pod, sweet cedar, and an exotic Chinese five spice complexity. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, enticingly plush and fleshy with creamy spicy tannins and a hoisin plum sauce note on the tangy, drying finish. There is a lot of ripe joyful winemaking packed into each bottle, making this a perfect BBQ wine for the summer. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.
Regarded as two of the true rising star Chateaux of Pomerol and Saint Emilion, Charlotte Krajewski, daughter of owner Martin Krajewski, has overseen winemaking at these properties since 2017 as the Technical Director and Chief Winemaker after previously travelling and working extensively in France, Australia, USA and more latterly New Zealand. The small 6-hectare property of Clos Cantenac planted on deep gravels, clay, and sand over broken limestone, yields two wines annually, Clos Cantenac and a second wine, Petit Cantenac, while the prestigious 2.2-hectare Pomerol property of Chateau Seraphine, planted on 40-million-year-old blue smectite clay, produces wines with incredibly opulent, sensual, and hedonistic characteristics yet remains eminently cellar worthy. In Neal Martin’s recent Vinous.com ‘in-bottle’ review of the 2022 Pomerols, Chateau Seraphine featured in the top 8 highest scoring wines alongside the likes of Chateau Petrus, Le Pin and Trotanoy.
Pomerol and Saint Emilion 2024
The 2024 vintage was yet another rollercoaster ride and a very complicated viticultural year in Bordeaux. A very wet year, especially during the autumn and winter months, this wasn’t however the whole story as appellations like Pauillac, for example, experienced less rain than its 10-year average. After the drought affected vintages of 2018, 2020 and 2022, the 2024 growing season got off to a promising start before the onset of spring brought hail and the early signs of what was to become a season-long battle with mildew disease pressures. A grey and gloomy May saw cool temperatures that slowed vine growth and resulted in uneven flowering, especially for the Merlot vines. But as summer finally arrived in late June, the mood shifted. Drier, sunnier conditions settled in through August and into September, bringing with them a welcome window for ripening, particularly beneficial for Cabernet Sauvignon, which was harvested in improved conditions right up into mid-October.
Clos Cantenac Petit Cantenac 2024, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 13% Abv.
In 2024 the Petit Cantenac is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc and as with many cooler Bordeaux vintages, the aromatics are packed with delightful crunchy berry fruit notes that definitely err towards the red fruit spectrum. Bright and perfumed, there are layers of raspberries, red cherries and earthy red currants and a delightful sweet ceder spice hint along side dried herbs, graphite and crushed limestone minerality. On the palate, the wine is pure, crunchy, and bright but also incredibly lithe, fresh, and light on its feet, with a mouth-watering succulence of bramble berries, tart red plums, and a medley of red summer berries underpinned by fine grained mineral tannins and an intricate lattice work of tangy lemony acidity. At the heart of the wine is the signature polish and balance that you find on all the Clos Cantenac wines, engendering a real sense of attention to detail. A cooler, more classical expression of Saint Emilion that drinkers will find hard to resist in its youth. (12,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 91-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Clos Cantenac 2024, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 13.25% Abv.
This Saint Emilion Grand Vin from Clos Cantenac is a 100% Merlot that will be aged for 12 months in 40% new oak barriques and 60% in second and third passage barrels. The aromatics on this embryonic wine are lifted and perfumed, indeed quite striking and fresh, painting a picture of a summer garden in bloom with notes of violets, peonies, and white blossoms over a melange of red and black berries, black currants, black cherries and freshly picked blueberries. The florality is further enhanced with delicate hints of briary, dry tobacco leaf, Asian baking spices and hints of cinnamon, clove and cedar oak spice. The palate is cool, fresh, and racy with tart black currant and black cherry notes gently underpinned by crisp linear acids, fine grained limestone mineral tannins and a well delineated, taut finish. A cool climate, energetic vintage full of restrained classicism, this wine will be deliciously mouthwatering and accessible on release but also worthy of beneficial medium-term cellaring. (6,000 bottled produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 92-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
L’Innocence de Seraphine 2024, Pomerol, 13.25% Abv.
In 2024, the L’Innocence de Seraphine second wine is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc and offers up a complex aromatics of potpourri, pressed violets, sweet cedar, pithy black cherry, macerated black berries, herbaceous dried tobacco leaf, graphite and exotic hints of Asian spices and Sichuan pepper. The palate shows a well-balanced textural tight knit elegance but also an overt mineral restraint together with notes of spicy black berries, salty liquorice, vanilla pod spice and dry powdery graphite tannins. Medium bodied, cool, and classically mineral, the finish is leaner than more recent solar vintages but equally charming and seductive. (4,500 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 90-92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Chateau Seraphine 2024, Pomerol, 13.5% Abv.
The flagship Grand Vin from the estate is a 100% Merlot that will be aged for 12 to 14 months in 45% new French oak barriques with 55% in second and third passage barrels. From the very first nosing, it becomes very clear that this vintage is yet another majestic boutique offering with dense, layered, alluring aromatics packed full of violets, acacia, and white blossoms before notes of salty black currant, crème de cassis, liquorice, black cherries, and macerated blueberries with a kiss of graphite and iron filings. True to this cooler vintage, there is a more accentuated classical mineral component to the palate that’s simultaneously concentrated, finely polished and hedonistic. With a fine veil of mineral tannins and complex layers of mocha infused blue and black berry fruits, this wine shines, proudly displaying its textural complexity and pedigree, revealing the results of incredibly strict grape selection. This is undoubtedly a triumph over adversity for the Chateau and the appellation. (4,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 94-96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Back vintages of the Clos Cantenac and Chateau Seraphine wines are available retail in the UK from specialist fine wine merchant Museum Wines as well as En-primeur on release. Prices available on request.
It is certainly no secret that 2024 was yet another very complicated viticultural vintage In Bordeaux. A very wet year, especially during the autumn and winter months, this wasn’t however the whole story as appellations like Pauillac, for example, actually experienced less rain than its 10-year average. After the drought affected vintages of 2018, 2020 and 2022, the 2024 growing season got off to a promising start before the onset of spring brought hail and the early signs of what was to become a season-long battle with mildew disease pressures. 2024 represents the lowest yields across Bordeaux since the forsaken 1991 vintage.
A grey and gloomy May saw cool temperatures that slowed vine growth and resulted in uneven flowering, especially for the Merlot vines. But as summer finally arrived in late June, the mood shifted. Drier, sunnier conditions settled in through August and into September, bringing with them a welcome window for ripening, particularly beneficial for Cabernet Sauvignon, which was harvested in improved conditions right up into mid-October.
La Croizille winemaker Jean Michel Garcion.
Speaking to various vignerons about the vintage, many are quick to avoid generalisations, explaining that the conditions in their own vineyards could, in many instances, be vastly different from conditions in their near neighbour’s. Success in 2024 was about timing – timing of spraying, strict fruit selection and of course down to one’s very own terroir and soil types in the vineyards. In general, gravel and certain types of clay were well-equipped to deal with over-saturation – gravel soils naturally having excellent drainage, whilst some types of clay can retain more water, preventing it being returned to, and diluting, the fruit. Limestone soils, like those found on the cote at Chateau La Croizille, also worked well but there was a risk of austerity and accentuated restraint in the wines.
The view out of the La Croizille tasting room, from the top of the limestone cote in Saint Emilion.
It is almost certainly this willingness to talk up the vintage as well as emphasize the individuality of various Chateaux terroirs, that has led to the 2024 vintage being coined a “micro-climate vintage”. As always, quality will be varied and surprises will be plentiful, but there is no denying that the conditions favoured premium Chateaux in the Medoc, Saint Emilion and Pomerol, where strict selection for Merlot was essential, while Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc often flourished in the drier, later ripening conditions, yielding many wines with great promise.
Chateau La Croizille 2024, Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé, Bordeaux
A beautifully dark, dense, and seductively opaque in the glass, this 2024 Saint Emilion reveals a deep black berry fruited aromatic underbelly with notes of violets, sweet cigar box, cedar spice, graphite, and blueberry compote with a subtle dusting of vanilla pod oak spice. Notably restrained on the nose, the palate shifts into a higher gear to reveal a plush, silky, harmonious palate with soft supple tannins, seamlessly integrated acids, and soft-toned black and blueberry fruits in the mouth. The extraction has been incredibly gentle, coaxing only the purest and finest characters from this reduced grape harvest. This is undoubtedly a phoenix rising from the ashes of the 2024 vintage weather chaos. A truly standout, classically restrained expression from Saint Emilion’s limestone cote.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Chateau La Croizille wines are available ex-cellar, direct to merchant. Contact Anthony Crameri for prices and vintage availability.
Burgundy by nature, is the slowest evolving of the classical regions in France. Afterall, they do already have over 900 years of quality winemaking history in the bank. But the past decade has started to see the pace of change pick up a fair bit as the older generation of many family owned domaines start handing over the cellar keys to a younger, savvy, next generation who have been primed for succession. With these new minds and able hands come new ideas, new energy and also new vision. Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet does not fully fit into this model as Michael Le Guellec left the family estate for many years, only returning in 2018 to pick up the reins of the estate from his elderly grandfather who retired in 1990. This also marked the return to domaine bottled wines instead of selling off the bulk of their grapes in the Clos Champ and Les Jeune Rois lieu dits.
The old family house next to the Clos Champ monopole vineyard in Brochon.
Michael Le Guellec and business partner Arnaud Ducouet have now been producing wines since the 2019 vintage and the 2023 releases are simply the finest expressions produced yet. With some handy consultation advice from the famous guru Pierre Millemann, the Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet wines are now among the most exciting village level Gevrey Chambertin wines being produced at the moment, without exception. With their slight anonymity comes exceptional value for money. But once the quality of their 2022s and 2023 vintage starts to be fully appreciated by consumers, you can expect these wines to become incrementally collectable and sought after. So my advice is get in early while you can!
Magnums of the Domaine’s Gevrey Chambertin Clos Champ 2022.
Le Guellec-Ducouet Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles Blanc 2023, 13% Abv.
First tasted in November 2023 from barrel, this beautiful new (non-domaine) white from Michael Le Guellec and Arnaud Ducouet really got everyone very excited and was a rather pleasant surprise to taste it for the first time in the domaine cellars especially seeing as their consulting oenologist is the famed Pierre Millemann, who’s own Corton-Charlemagne white made from grapes just down the road, is regarded as one of the top white wines in Burgundy. This new Pernand Blanc retasted in January 2025 is youthfully energetic showing a certain palate ripeness and aromatic complexity more in keeping with a warmer vintage, with seductive notes of honeysuckle, waxy citrus rind, lemon pastille, white peach, grilled nuts, and warm buttered white toast wafting out the glass. The palate is taut and fabulously crystalline with a chiselled bright Puligny Montrachet’esque acidity, hints of freshly baked buttered pastries and a pronounced stony, liquid limestone minerality on the finish. The final blend was assembled from one 500 litre new Cadus French oak barrel and three smaller second passage barriques. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, this impressive wine does have more than a hint of the genius of Pierre Millemann about it. This Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc punches way above its weight grade and is an utter delight. I expect it to sell out instantly. Drink on release until 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Arnaud and Michael at their cellar in November 2024.
Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge 2023
As of the miniscule yielding 2024 vintage, this Hautes Cotes de Nuits red will become a Fixin Rouge appellation wine. For now, the 2023 is astonishingly bright fruited and intense with complex layered aromatics of crushed raspberries and black cherry compote with a seductive wild strawberry component. Such incredible energy and vibrancy on display, showing an overtly generous accessibility and an invitingly sweet fruited opened knit texture with expertly integrated silky oak spice tannins. If the final bottling comes close to this deliciousness, it will be a “must buy” wine for short to medium term drinking. Drink from 2025 to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey Chambertin Les Jeunes Rois 2023
Tasted from multiple Francois Freres barrels including new French oak barrels (that will make up circa 30% of the final blend) as well as used barrels, this fabulous lieu dit ‘single vineyard’ wine already displays deep dark alluring aromatics that whispers notes of black currant, sloe berries, dark forest berries and sweet Christmas spices. There’s a medium bodied silky soft fine texture together with beautifully suave sophisticated supple tannins interwoven with cool bright acids and incredibly intense finish that’s long and pure fruited with an unobtrusive kiss of oak spice. A genuinely sophisticated 2023 Gevrey that offers a notable mid-palate tension and structure that is seemingly lacking in many other domaines’ wines. Drink from 2025 to 2035.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey Chambertin Champ ‘Cuvee 93’ 2023
Again, tasted from multiple Tonnelerie Hermitage new French oak barrels as well as new Cadus barrels, this wine coming from 2 hectares in the Champ lieu dit is packed full of alluring blue and black berry fruits laced with exotic Christmas spices, clove and cinnamon stick, before damson plum and savoury bramble berry spice. The acids are deliciously tangy and mouthwatering, the palate texture sleek and finely polished, coating the mouth with a weightless old vine concentration of red and black raspberry fruits. Sophisticated but also very subtle and seductive with the Cadus barrels adding a little more fatness and flesh as well as crispier acids and impressive tension on the finish. Drink from 2025 to 2034.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey Chambertin Clos Champ Monopole 2023
Tasted from multiple second fill Francois Freres French oak barrels including some new Rousseau oak barrels, the wine is already incredibly lifted and perfumed with exotic aromatics of creme de cassis, black berry compote and saline black currant. Such invigorating energy and vibrancy reverberate through the wine, showing sun raisined black cherry, beautifully polished marble tannins and a cool, taut, pinpoint focus on the delicately brûléed oak spice finish. Super complexity and class from this monopole vineyard make this another ‘go-to’ wine for avid collectors in 2023. Drink 2026 to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Le Guellec-Ducouet Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles Blanc 2024
The maiden 2023 vintage of this (non-domaine) wine was simply a revelation and this new 2024 edition, tasted from a 500-litre new Cadus French oak barrel, shows deliciously succulent notes of yellow citrus fruits, white peach, lemon cordial, bergamot and crushed limestone minerality. The texture is supple and gentle, unforced, nakedly pure and sophisticated with a pervading elegance and finesse, finishing with a delicate stone fruit persistence. A subtle, understated, but supremely classy white wine. Drink from 2026 to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Michael Le Guellec in his cellar.
Le Guellec-Ducouet Savigny Les Beaune Blanc 2024
This is an exciting new white for the (non-domaine) Le Guellec-Ducouet range made from bought in fruit. Tasted from a 500-litre new Cadus French oak barrel, complex aromatics of lemon balm, lemon grass, sweet herbal tea, citrus pastille, and waxy incense notes waft from the glass. Despite its rumbunctious juvenile state, the palate is notably creamy and delicately lactic but with the purity and pithy limestone intensity of top notch white Burgundy. Already impressively harmonious and accessible, this is a wonderful new addition showing great potential. Drink from 2026 to 2032.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Fixin Rouge 2024
An early examination of the 2024 Fixin Rouge in barrel (previously the Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge), reveals itself as aromatically seductive and smoky with deliciously broody savoury black berry fruits, earthy black currant, and smoky savoury damson plum nuances. Plush, polished, and sophisticated on the palate, this shows a gentle elegance and seductive, light touch accessibility. Very early days but developing very nicely indeed.
(Wine Safari Score: 89-92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Musigny Wines. Email andrew@musigny.wine for an En-primeur 2023 offer.
Every year, I look at the wide array of phenomenal new wines being produced by the next generation of Cape young guns and am simply astounded by the ingenuity, attention to detail and precision these producers are able to conjure up often with bought in fruit parcels acting as their blank canvases. For me, no producer personifies this endless striving for excellence and creativity more than Sakkie Mouton, the Weskus maverick.
The eccentric new duo from Sakkie.
With Sakkie’s Revenge of the Crayfish now an established icon Chenin Blanc in the Cape’s annual new release schedule, I am always left wondering what new tricks Sakkie will pull out of his sleeve as his new vintage vinous treasures are revealed. This year, with the 2024 vintage, he has pushed the boundaries even further with not one but two eccentric new releases… a Piquepoul Blanc and a Lledoner Pelut / Agiorgitiko Rosé blend. I recently received samples of both and had a chance to taste these fascinating, paradigm shifting wines.
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Piquepoul Blanc 2024, WO Oliphantsrivier, 12.3% Abv.
3.1g/l RS | 7.9g/l TA | 3.31pH
Produced from Piquepoul vines planted in 2021 on Karoo Sandstone soils 25km from the ocean, the colour shows a deep golden bonze hue with an incredibly enticing crystalline clarity and brightness. On the nose, the aromatics are rich, complex, and exotic as you would expect after two weeks maceration on the skins. There is a seductive perfume of white blossoms before intensely pithy aromas of freshly pealed naartjies, soft waxy orange peel, ripe pineapple chunks and crunchy white peach flow from the glass. There is a faint mineral dustiness and granitic spice lurking alongside hints of green apple, nori seaweed and Sakkie’s signature briney maritime Weskus salinity. The palate is medium bodied and compact in construction with delicious reinforcing tangy lemony acids, hints of tart pineapple, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and a salty, wet stone minerality on the dry, pithy finish. I love the way Sakkie has managed to coax an extra layer of depth and texture out on the palate from 4 months extended gross lees contact, yet he manages to retain the wines majestic purity, freshness, and piercing salinity effortlessly. This is a far more complex and characterful Piquepoul Blanc than many consumers in Europe will be familiar with from the South of France and its deliciousness is simply off the charts. Enjoy the halo vibrancy of these young vines now on release and over the next 3 to 5 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Sakkie Mouton Family Wines Lledoner Pelut / Agiorgitiko Rosé 2024, WO Oliphantsrivier, 12.5% Abv.
7.5g/l RS | 12.5g/l TA | 3.24pH
A alluring bright orange pink colour in the glass, this young vibrant 2024 Rosé displays a dramatic array of aromatics with seductively complex notes of naartjie peel, orange citrus, sea breeze salinity, pink musk candy, Parma violets, Turkish delight and delicate hints of rose petals and crushed limes. In the mouth the wine shows an incredible balance and symmetry, with an intense concentration of oranges and limes, pithy ruby grapefruit, tart strawberry and chalky, stony cranberry nuances on a vibrant, zippy finish. An incredibly enticing, seductive Rosé that displays a mouth-watering moreishness… one sip swiftly inviting another. The delicate red berry and watermelon hints combined with a stony pithiness make this an incredibly food friendly wine. This innovative blend typifies Sakkie Mouton’s style at the moment as he l continues to flex his winemaking genius. Drink now, preferably with some Cape salmon or yellow fin tuna sashimi or any Asian fusion cuisine, and over the next 2 to 4 years.
Members of the Institute of Masters of Wine have elected Roderick Smith MW as the new chair of the organisation. Rod, the 57th chair of the IMW, will head up the IMW’s Council.
The IMW Council is a board of 13 international Masters of Wine who are responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the IMW. There are currently 421 MWs working in 30 countries.
Rod became an MW in 2006 and is an enthusiastic and committed educator, marketer, judge and public speaker on wine. He is currently based in the south of France where he established the Riviera Wine Academy.
Speaking on his appointment as IMW Chair, Rod said, “I am immensely proud and privileged to have the opportunity to build on the hard work of Cathy van Zyl MW, my predecessor, in implementing the IMW’s Strategy 2030, on which we have been working for the last two years. In a changing wine market and against a backdrop of global uncertainty, our goals will be to foster engagement with the wine world at large and strengthen the wider MW family.”
Outgoing Chair Cathy van Zyl MW with Rod Smith MW.
His career began at Oddbins in London before moving to Seagram as a brand manager for a number of wines before establishing his own consultancy business that included wine education and marketing. In 2005 he joined the fine wine importer, Mentzendorff, a company largely owned by Champagne Bollinger, as its French Wines Manager. At this time, he completed his Master of Wine dissertation, taking as its subject ‘Chenin Blanc in Anjou-Saumur’. He was awarded his Master of Wine title in 2006.
Rod moved to the South of France in 2007 to lead the wine team for Vins Sans Frontières, the leading supplier of wine to the superyacht industry. The idea for the Riviera Wine Academy was born when he started organising wine tastings, events and dinners for some of the most prestigious and discerning clients on earth as a result. Rod continues to enjoy living and working in the Côte d’Azur.
Rod has also been extensively involved in judging wine competitions. A current Panel Chair for the Decanter World Wine Awards, he has been a panel chair for the International Wine Challenge, and judged for the Moscow Russian Wine Fair, the Balkans International Wine Challenge, the Shanghai International Wine Challenge, Texsom (Dallas), Shanghai Wine100, Guangzhou Golden Bottle Awards and Guest International Judge at the prestigious Sydney Royal Show.
Rod takes over the role of chair from Cathy van Zyl MW, whose two-year tenure officially ended at the IMW’s annual general meeting on the 24 September.
Out-going Chair Cathy van Zyl MW thanked the IMW’s supporters, council members, the executive office team led by the IMW’s ‘indefatigable Executive Director, Julian Gore-Booth’ and her fellow MWs for all the work they had put in to contribute to the milestones achieved during her two-year tenure as Chair.
“It has been an exceptionally busy 24 months for all of us on so many fronts and, while we have faced and overcome several challenges, we’ve notched up many more successes. I am confident that incoming Chair Rod Smith MW and the IMW’s Council are ‘fighting fit, ready and able’ to grow the IMW and its influence within the global wine world, and I look forward to celebrating their success in the months ahead.”
About the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW):
The IMW is a membership organisation with an exceptional international reputation. For more than 70 years, its members – the Masters of Wine (MWs) – have been at the forefront of leadership and expertise in the world of wine. The IMW’s mission is to foster excellence, interaction and learning across all sectors of the global wine community. MWs prove their comprehensive understanding of wine by passing the MW exam, recognised worldwide for its rigour and exacting standards. In addition to passing the exam, members must sign the code of conduct before they are entitled to use the initials MW. This requires them to uphold the highest standards of commercial conduct within the industry. Today, there are 421 Masters of Wine working in 30 countries. The membership encompasses winemakers, sommeliers, buyers, journalists, shippers, consultants, viticulturalists, academics, educators and more. There are 367 students from 40 countries in the 2023-24 MW study programme. The IMW works with 36 supporters and four research and industry associates, who help promote the IMW’s mission. The five principal supporters are Austrian Wine, AXA Millésimes, Champagne Bollinger, Constellation Brands and VSPT Wine Group.
