Every vintage, critics and avid collectors watch out for the one or two wines that will ‘move the market’. A few years ago, it was the 100-point Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015, and this year it was possibly the Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2020 or the Taaibosch Crescendo 2020. However, every year there are a handful of classical Bordeaux Blend cuvees that offer up candidates for most profound wine of the vintage and in 2021, we seem to be spoilt for choice. An incredibly cool, long, and slow maturing vintage, Lukas van Loggerenberg commented to me recently that he thought it was possibly the longest and latest harvest on record since the fabled 1997 vintage that saw late ripening cultivars like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot being harvested into late May.
Most producers thought that the late, slow harvest was definitely worth the wait. Consumers can really look forward to remarkable wines from the 2021 crop with the cooler weather conditions enabling producers to harvest their grapes at exactly the right time, with viticulturists and winemakers especially excited about the good colour extraction, low pH levels and high natural acidity in cases where vineyards were managed effectively – which all points to exceptional quality premium wines.
The MR de Compostella 2020 was also released to phenomenal mainstream acclaim (and another 97/100-point scorcher from Neal Martin), but I have it on good authority that other well know critics have openly acknowledged that they perhaps underscored the 2020 MR vintage. With 2019 being declassified into a turbo charged Raats Jasper Red Blend, Bruwer and Mzokhona have stood steadfastly behind their draconian tasting and selection process for the component parts of the MR de Compostella final blend.
The 2021 vintage is, in Bruwer’s own words, the finest vintage of MR that he feels he has made to date. The rest is up to the consumers and the critics to agree or disagree. With samples in hand, I took on the taste challenge and opened a bottle of 2021 ahead of its impending commercial merchant release at the end of October in the UK.
MR de Compostella 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
1.9g/l RS | 5.85g/l TA | 3.59pH
The MR de Compostella from Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve possesses one of the most successful critical track records out of almost any red wine produced in South Africa let alone just in the Cape Bordeaux Blend category. The newest 2021 release astonishingly takes this wine to yet another higher niveau of quality with a blend of 26% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Malbec, 20% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Made from vines aged between 9 and 22 years old, all grown on deep decomposed dolomitic granite soils with table mountain sandstone, the aromatics are wonderfully bold and exuberant displaying seductive notes of blackberries, crème de cassis, violets, sweet cherry tobacco, black cherries and tart black plum. The lifted perfumed intensity is incredibly pure and piercing with salty liquorice, cedar spice and beautifully detailed maritime oyster shell nuances. In the mouth, the concentration and focused steely intensity is astounding – tart, bright and architecturally soaring, shaping this wine into a powerful, linear, multi-dimensional masterpiece. Packed full of salty cassis, tart plum and black currant, the tightly wound core of power, refined extraction and polished marble tannins leave you in no doubt that this harmonious, vibrant beauty is a spellbinding, timeless classic in the making. If you wanted just one wine to convince an international fine wine connoisseur of the true greatness of South Africa’s finest terroirs and winemaking, you have found your candidate! Simply an incredible wine. Drink this beauty from 2024 and savour over the next 30+ years. But you might need more than just one or two cases in your cellar!!
(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
MR de Compostella and Raats Family Wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Alliance Wines and is sold retail by specialist South African fine wine merchant Museum Wines. Retail will be circa £70 per bottle for the 2021.