Cabernet Franc

Oldenburg Vineyards Reveal an Alluring Array of New Red and White Wines in London…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 3 Comments

Oldenburg Vineyards is perched high-up in the scenic Banghoek Valley, just above Stellenbosch. In this impressive natural setting, winemaker Nic van Aarde plies his craft making some of the most captivating wines in Stellenbosch. Nestled within a soaring mountain amphitheatre, cooling ocean winds funnel though the warm valley creating optimal temperatures during both day and night, allowing Oldenburg to grow high quality grapes suitable for a premium selection of both red and white wines.

When current owner Adrian Vanderspuy bought the farm back in 2003, this was already and area he knew well, having been born on an adjacent property in the valley. This long-term project is finally bearing fruit and the red and white wines being produced on the farm are nearing the quality level Adrian knew this unique terroir was capable of reaching. Ahead of the 2022 vintage releases, I caught up in London recently with both Adrian and winemaker Nic van Aarde to run through the current releases from Oldenburg on the market.

Winemaker Nic van Aarde and owner Adrian Vanderspuy.

The Oldenburg Vineyards wine range currently consists of the more affordable CL white blend and CL red Bordeaux blend, the Oldenburg single varietal range and then the premium Rondekop Reserve wines that include the Stone Axe Syrah, Rhodium Right Bank styled blend (Cabernet Franc and Merlot), and the Per Se Cabernet Sauvignon, all made from 8 hectares of older vines around 14 to 18 years old, and 12 hectares of younger vines planted more recently.

Oldenburg Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

18 year old vines from a single vineyard of 1.5 hectares on sandy black alluvial soils. Slow whole bunch pressed oxidatively then fermented in 300 litre old barrels and 2500 litre Stockinger barrels. Natural slow fermentation with 50% malolactic fermentation, aged 11 months in foudre and bottled in February 2022.

Steely and intense, super focused and energetic, showing white pear, classic straw and dried herbs and peach stone. Seamless purity with bright refreshing acids, effortless concentration and a delightful focus. Really very pure and princely with a wonderfully premium feel.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Oldenburg Vineyards Chardonnay 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Sourced from two vineyards on alluvial and brown river rock soils. Whole bunch pressed with no SO2 in a more oxidative handling method, then fermented in 228 litre barrels with partial malo with lees stirring during fermentation. Barrels were rolled post-fermentation once a week. Wine saw 11 months oak ageing with light blond toast, 33% new / 33% 2nd / 33% 3rd fill.

Lovely natural purity to the wine with a gentle elegance, supple soft textural breadth, lemon and vanilla pod spice with a mineral note adding extra interest. Acids are glassy and fresh and the mid-palate creamy but crystalline with the signature effortless intensity. Impressively balanced and poised.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Oldenburg Vineyards Stone Axe Syrah 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Grapes from a vineyard at 410 metres altitude, NE slope on the warmer side. Earlier picked to express the site with 1/3 whole bunch pressed and lightly stomped with destemmed fruit on top. Natural fermentation allowed with 1-2 punch downs per day, wetting the cap gently. Aged in new Stockinger foudre and 5-6 year old 500 litre older foudre for 16 months.

Plenty of tarry, smoky black bramble berry fruits, olive, sweet black peppercorns, grilled herbs, cured meats and saline black berry fruits. Palate is super sleek and elegant with lovely intensity but light touch intensity, pristine purity and a weightless, savoury, spicy concentration with manicured tannins. Wonderfully characterful, classy and pure but beautifully classical. Very impressive.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Oldenburg Vineyards Rhodium Red Blend 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Shows a classical Stellenbosch nose of sweet cedar, tilled earth, sappy black and blueberry fruits, bouquet garner and dusty graphite hints. The palate is sleek and beautifully polished with a silky texture, bright red and black cherry fruit notes, some iodine and salinity, finishing with a harmonious, effortless intensity but also an understated, compact concentration. Lovely length, elegance and pedigree.

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

Oldenburg Vineyards Per Se Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

NE facing single vineyard with a coffee klip bank of 1.2 hectares. Grapes were crushed and destemmed with strict sorting, 6 days 12 degree C cold soak and then a natural fermentation was allowed to begin. Wine saw a 3-week cold soak post fermentation and was then basket pressed. Aged in 55% new 225 litre French oak barrels and was bottled early Sept 2022 after being aged 19 months. 

Show and expressive nose of tilled earth, savoury black berry, tobacco, earthy cassis, black cherry, fynbos, delicate dried herbs and graphite… then cherry and parma violet. A fine sinewy line of tannins is evident with a precise mineral focus supported by fresh glassy acids. Opens and develops beautifully in the glass. A very smart Cabernet Sauvignon indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

André van Rensburg Storms the Bastille with his Maiden Red and White Releases – Tasting the Most Exciting New Releases of 2021…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

‘The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.’ If that quote could be applied to just one winemaker, it would be André van Rensburg. Never one for mediocracy, he has, over the years, often been accused of being obsessive in the pursuit of his vinous vision and so the madman image has stuck with him for nearly thirty years. Frequently misunderstood, some might say that he suffers a personality disorder, particularly when, in conversation, expletives abound. Opinionated in the extreme, he remains, without exception, respected by his industry peers.

If success can be measured by the countless local and international awards he has enjoyed during his already long and distinguished career, then you could almost argue that André should be ready for retirement. Chatting to his long-time friend and now importer Richard Kelley MW, he describes how his first encounter with the relatively unknown André was in 1995. “Even then, the winemaking genius was apparent. We became good friends. Our long-standing relationship is a tale of two ill-matched individuals: the outspoken rock spider and the quiet English rooinek. The quintessential odd couple. Over the last three decades, I’ve come to understand that André is the greatest winemaker in the world. It’s something he reminds me of every time we meet.”

Everything about these two new wines seems to speak of his almost three decades of experience gained at Vergelegen, yet they also seem to express a certain unique, unbridle passion and artisanal precision that was perhaps more difficult to bottle when creating such large volumes at the Anglo-American owned farm. Both the red and white thrill from the moment they are poured, they impress in a passionate, heartfelt manner which shows that André has undoubtedly poured his heart and soul into these two new maiden releases.

André van Rensburg Artisan Wines Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13.86% Abv.

1.6 g/l RS | 6.8g/l TA | 3.11 pH

This very impressive maiden release is a blend of 86% Sauvignon Blanc but also features a 14% splash of Semillon for some extra salt and pepper complexity and mid-palate textural finesse. Regarded as his signature white grape, this beautifully crafted wine is certainly no “facile poolside quaffer” as André’s UK importer and close friend, Richard Kelley MW sternly proclaims. And indeed he is right!

This is a very serious barrel-fermented example in the style of top white Bordeaux expressions that is approachable now but will undoubtedly benefit from further maturation of up to a decade or more in the cellar. In the glass, the aromatics are packed with apple blossom, ruby grapefruit, citrus lemon, crunchy green apple, savoury gooseberry, fresh dill and tantalising touches of lemongrass and tangerine peel. But it’s on the palate where the true class and pedigree of André’s winemaking is revealed, boasting a concentrated, energy packed mouthful bursting with tangy gooseberry, lemon oil, crystallised ginger and lemongrass spice underpinned by a dusty, granitic crushed gravel minerality. The texture is super compact and dense, glycerol and mouth coating with just the most subtle hints of vanilla oak spice, a lick of lanolin, lime leaf and a spine-tingling acidity on the finish. This is certainly one of the finest Sauvignon – Semillon blends I have tasted in the past several years. Chapeau André!

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

André van Rensburg Artisan Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

2.8g/l RS | 5.6g/l TA | 3.63 pH

I often wonder whether André made greater red or white wines in his previous life as head winemaker at Vergelegen. The problem is that his whites were so exceptional, that sometimes what he achieved with Cabernet Sauvignon and the other Bordeaux varieties was maybe sometimes overshadowed. But for me, André, the self-proclaimed Chateau Petrus-lover, was always the quintessential red wine obsessive, producing some of the most classically styled reds in South Africa when sweet, fruity, over ripe Parkerized wines were the flavour of the day. Like Sauvignon Blanc is his white signature grape, so too are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot his red counterparts.

This Van Rensburg red features 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot but also includes a small addition of 7% Malbec and 4% Cabernet Franc and the wine was aged for 18 months in French oak barriques, 50% of them new. The aromatics are set to slow-release and gently ease their way out the glass in a leisurely fashion to reveal a complex melange of earthy violets, melted milk chocolate, forest berries, freshly tilled earth, raspberry liquor chocolates and undertones of dried herbs, melted tar and black berry compote. The palate is silky soft and beautifully elegant with a medium-bodied weight, soft brittle tannins and an almost 2017-esque weightless concentration of black berries, red currants, light soy, cherry tobacco and crème de cassis. There is an incredibly fine, seamless mouthfeel that is cool, compact and incredibly classical and fine boned. This is André flexing his winemaking muscles to the max, creating a superstar Bordeaux blend that is going to make some serious waves in the local and international marketplace. I feel privileged to vinously share in the next chapter of this great winemaker’s wine journey. Drink now or cellar for 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines are available in the UK from South African specialist Museum Wines at circa £21 and £26 per bottle for the white and red. http://www.museumwines.co.uk

Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards Impresses with Another Exceptional Bordeaux Blend – Tasting the Flagship O.T.V. 2018 Red Blend…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Stellenbosch region has arguably the finest terroir in the Cape for growing the famed Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Often attributed to a combination of poor sandstone or decomposed granite topsoils that make the vine struggle, ideal aspects, and the important, however cliched, cooling influence of the coastal breezes off the False Bay, the wines the Cape’s most intelligent and intuitive winemakers are now able to produce are certainly capturing the attention of the world’s top red wine connoisseurs.

The Uva Mira estate also benefits from the location of its mountain vineyards, which are 620 metres above sea level at their highest point, as the climate falls into category two on the Winkler Scale. In layman’s terms, this means it has a lot more in common with vineyards in France than many of their South African neighbours. This, alongside the decomposed granite soils, allows them to produce wines which are some of the finest expressions of terroir anywhere in the Stellenbosch region.

Uva Mira Mountain Vineyards O.T.V. Red Blend 2018, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Located in one of Stellenbosch’s nine wards, Uva Mira has grown to become one of the most respected producers in the Helderberg, the ward closest to the cooling Atlantic Ocean. This super premium O.T.V. blend is a classy mix of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, two of the most successful red varieties grown on the estate. This flagship blend commemorates the current owner’s father, O.T.Venter Senior, with an inspirational and prestigious cuvee that spares no expense in the pursuit of greatness. The rigorous selection of fruit has yielded a beautiful red wine with clarity, purity, precision, and distinction. The aromatics are packed full of perfumed pressed violets, sweet cedar spice, saline crème de cassis, red currants, and hints of freshly tilled earth. On the palate, it is every bit as cool and seductive as you would expect from a flagship blend like this, boasting a dense silky texture with tannins of velvet, classical layers of picante black currant, and black cherry fruits all wrapped in a considerately oaked, vibrantly fresh, intensely luxurious package. Like the other 2018 reds in the Uva Mira range, they nailed the vintage in 2018, producing some of the most attractive wines in the region. Drink now, after an hours decant, if you feel like spoiling yourself, or else bury a case in your cellar for 8 to 10+ years to experience the wine’s true inner class.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Uva Mira Wines are available exclusively in the UK from importer Museum Wines.

https://www.museumwines.co.uk/shop/uva-mira-mountain-vineyards/2017/o-t-v/

Tasting the New Release Sassicaia 2020 – A Unique Vintage of Generous Ripeness and Nervy Freshness…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

After missing the 2019 Sassicaia new release tasting in London last year due to unforeseen circumstances, this year Priscilla Incisa made sure she was in London in person to present the 2020 vintage of this famous Bolgheri estate in Tuscany, along with the 2021 Le Difese. Having always been in and around the family business, Priscilla started to take a more active role in the marketing and promotion of the Sassicaia brand from around 2012 onwards, and now has become the modern-day face of the winery.

Sassicaia is of course one of the largest private estates in Bolgheri consisting of 2,500 hectares, of which around 100 hectares are planted with vines. The estate also famously consists of over 1,500 hectares of wild woodlands of which almost a third of is a protected wildlife conservation area. The first vintage of Sassicaia was the 1968, which was released in 1971, produced with the help of Antinori’s winemaker at the time, the famous Giacomo Tachis. In 2000, Sassicaia was joined by a “second wine” called Guidalberto, consisting of around 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. Finally, in 2002, Le Difese was added to the range, made from around 45% Bolgheri Cabernet Sauvignon and 55% Sangiovese sourced from vineyards in Chianti Rufina.

The 2020 vintage began with adequate rains and generally mild conditions while February and March were more threatening with freezing temperatures, particularly for the prized Cabernet Franc, resulting in lower yields but also concentrated high-quality fruit. Of course, 2020 was the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw very warm, dry summer conditions as well as major challenges securing enough pickers to bring the crop in. With the warm conditions, Tenuta San Guido erred on the side of caution and picked their fruit earlier to preserve freshness and avoid over ripe flavours. As a result, the 2020 wines show a generous ripeness together with a fine purity and a nervy, crisp freshness.

Since the release of the 2019 Sassicaia vintage last year, global demand has soared with merchants and consumers alike sweeping the market for well priced back vintages putting massive upward pressure on older vintages but also ensuring that the new release would follow suit with a higher price. The 2020 sees a considerable price increase from £995 IB per 6 in the UK to £1,200 IB per 6. So you’re going to have to dig that little bit deeper this year to secure a case of this icon wine at the release price.

Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2021, IGT Toscana, 14% Abv.

The 2021 is a blend of 55% Sangiovese and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and reveals all the brightness, perfume and purity of the 5 Star 2021 vintage. Fragrant and very pretty, the aromatics are full of violets, red cherries, sun raisined cranberries, pink musk and hints of black currant rock candy. The palate mouthfeel is medium bodied but beautifully creamy and textured with a real density and concentration that glides across the palate with ample supporting velvety tannins and the most delicious mouth watering acids. Expertly conceived and wonderfully constructed, clearly showing the precision, intensity and purity of an exceptional vintage. Drink this on release to enjoy its youthful vivacity or hide a few bottles in the cellar for 6 to 8+ years. One of the best Le Difese reds produced since 2002!

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2020, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC, 14% Abv.

This is a classical Sassicaia blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc from a vintage that started cool but finished warm and dry in August. Bottled in early January 2023, the aromatics are noticeably plusher and more opulent than some cooler vintages but the purity and precision is, as always, stunning with lofty perfumed notes of rose petals, lavender, black plum compote, fruit cake and a melange of black berry nuances. The enticing nose draws you in and the palate delivers an opulent, voluptuous mouthful with layers of earthy black cherry, liquorice, dried fennel, tart black currant with and an alluring reductive saline creme de cassis intensity. The textural precision is pinpoint and the acids surprisingly vibrant and tangy with stony mineral tannins adding a lithe, athletic frame beneath the sumptuous cloak of black fruits. Like all of the greatest red wines in the world, I would happily drink this beautiful wine young, even from the barrel, marking its true finesse, balance and harmony. I suspect this vintage will continue to offer generosity and accessibility for longer than normal before starting to close up and slumber. Drink on release and over 15 to 20+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Also tasted…

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2014, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOCG, 13% Abv.

There are aromatic similarities here to the 2020 with plenty of dark broody fruit layers over potpourri, sappy wood spice, stewed plum and sun raisined black currants. The palate shows hints of tertiary Cabernet Sauvignon with sweet cherry tobacco, tilled earth and well brewed black tea before another burst of creme de cassis, salty liquorice and oyster shell intensity re-emerge on the silky, sumptuous finish. Lauded as a “restaurant vintage” on release, this label should now be viewed as a badge of honour rather than any detraction from the innate quality that is undoubtedly on display here in the glass. Certainly no rush if you have this in your cellar but why hang on for much longer if the wine is drinking with such seductive elegance. (It was noted that at the Press Tasting the day before, tasters were poured the Sassicaia 2014 from magnum and many noted quite a savoury, evolved maturity suggesting notable bottle variation. The 75cl bottles served at the Trade Tasting, of which I tasted from two different bottles, showed impressive freshness, reductive hints and only very modest evolution.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Exploring Bordeaux Second Wines – Part 13: Chateau Seraphine L’ Innocence de Seraphine 2019 from Pomerol…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 4 Comments

Regarded as one of the true rising stars of Pomerol and the right bank, Charlotte Krajewski, daughter of owner Martin Krajewski, has overseen winemaking at the Chateau Seraphine property since 2017 as the Technical Director and Chief Wine Maker after previously travelling and working extensively in France, Australia, USA and more latterly New Zealand in Hawkes Bay.

Their vineyards have an overall surface of 2.2 hectares but is split into two parcels of vines. At Plince they have one hectare of vines situated on a well-draining slope of sandy topsoil over clay and deep gravels and 0.4ha of this plot was replanted with Cabernet Franc in April 2017 at 8000 vines per/ha. The second block at Mazeyres is 1.2ha and is also laid out in two distinct sections. The first part consists of a raised deposit of deep gravels on 0.6ha and is planted with old Merlot vines. The second part sits on a gently sloping 0.6ha and is a patchwork of shallow sandy soils over gravels and blue clay (smectite) and was replanted with Merlot in April 2017 at 8,000 plants per/h.

The growing year started slowly but was followed by a series of heat waves, a drought and heavy rain in late September although Seraphine also enjoyed an almost endless dry summer that led to a very fine harvest. During the 2019 growing year Seraphine decided to maintain a slightly higher density canopy and so did only a light leaf-thinning in the early season on the side of the rising sun. Then in early August they also did a green harvest to adjust the crop size and to take pressure off the vines after the long warm summer.

In the winery, the harvested fruit was carefully loaded from small baskets onto a first-sorting table and then de-stemmed using their precision CUBE system followed by a berry hand-sorting table and a gentle crushing before arriving in the fermentation tanks by gravity. The average yield was approximately 35hl/ha for the older vines although not all of the fruit went into the Grand Vin, and 25hl/ha for the younger vines, which was used exclusively for the ‘second’ wine.

Chateau Seraphine L’ Innocence de Seraphine 2019, Pomerol, 14% Abv.

Surely the expectations for a premium 100% Merlot Pomerol from a top vintage like 2019 will be high and this second wine certainly does not disappoint. The aromatics are accessible, rich, broad and expressive with high toned notes of violets and lilac over hints of tilled loamy earth, wet clay, earthy black plum, burnt wood embers, bitter black chocolate, dried coconut flakes and bruleed coffee beans. The palate is equally inviting with soft, spicy, pithy layers of chocolatey black berry fruits, dusty graphite, vanilla pod, black tea, stewed cherries and exotic baking spices. The tannins are classically mineral and piquant offering structural support to the supple dark berry fruits ensuring serious drinking pleasure for true Bordeaux connoisseurs. Drink this now or cellar comfortably for another 5 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

This wine is available in the UK at £59.99pb from Museum Wines.

https://www.museumwines.co.uk/product/linnocence-de-seraphine-pomerol-france-2019/

Damascene’s Current 2020 Red and White Releases Reviewed and Rated…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Damascene is the super exciting South African winery partnership between top talent Jean Smit, previously the winemaker at Boekenhoutskloof, and David Curl, the former owner of Bordeaux’s Chateau Gaby. The maiden Damascene bottlings were only in 2017 but already the winery has, since then, established itself as one of the most exciting new producers on the Cape fine wine landscape.

While the new 2021 vintages have just been released to great acclaim in South Africa, the 2020 vintages are the current releases on the UK market and in May 2020, I caught up with Jean Smit in London to taste through his exciting range of whites and reds.

Tasting with Jean earlier this year in London.

As Jean explained, the idea of Damascene’s wines was to represent the different regional identities of the South African winelands with grapes being sourced from across the Cape. The wines are made in a well-equipped cellar on David Curl’s Elgin apple farm, which also supplies the Pinot Noir for the Moya Meaker label.

Damascene Semillon 2020, WO Franschhoek, 13.5% Abv.

Sourced from two old vine vineyards plss as noted in 1962 and 1942, this wine was fermented and aged on lees in 1000 litre Austrian foudre and offers up beautifully bright, fragrant, piercing aromatics of white citrus, white blossom, lemon and lime peel, a hint of sea breeze salinity (from the 1962 vineyard) and kelp nuances. Taught and concentrated with a fine glycerol texture, lemon grass, lemon butter, white citrus, tangy green apple and a hint of lanolin on the finish. Delicious and crystalline. A very impressive expression of Old Vine Semillon.

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

Damascene Chenin Blanc 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Sourced from three blocks on the crest of the Bottlary Hills. Granite (5% on skins), Greywacke and Shale soils which give acidity & lemon lime notes. Rich, savoury and yellow fruited, with lots of honey suckle, ginger, white blossom and dusty mineral spice. Aged 11 months in old oak barrels. The wine shows bruised yellow peach and yellow plum that follows to a palate loaded with tangerine, Seville oranges and honey on warm toast. Lovely complexity, flinty minerality, tart acids and impressive depth of flavour. Wow!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Moya Meaker Pinot Noir 2020, WO Elgin, 13.5% Abv.

10 barrels (300 litre light toast) using 777 & 667 Pinot Noir clones. No stems and 11 months ageing. Reveals a lovely rose petal, black cherry and bramble berry perfume with hints of pink musk. Texture is pure and sleek, beautifully polished and focused with pomegranate, blood orange, hints of cured meats and complexing wood smoke notes. Pinpoint focus and precision with really bright acids and textural elegance.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Damascene Cabernet Franc 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Aged 11 months in 1000 litre Austrian foudre. The terroir is based on poor granite soils in the Bottlary Hills. The nose shows sweet red and black berry fruit, bouquet garnier, potpourri, fennel, dusty granite, sweet cedar and grilled herbs. The palate is pure and elegant with a salivating fresh acidity supported by a fine line of tannin grip but all exceptionally well balanced. A really delicious expression of Franc!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Damascene Syrah 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.

75% of whole bunches used with no submerged cap. 2/3 Karibib fruit (lending pepper & perfume), 1/3 Bottlary (north facing for extra tannins). Boasts sweet dark red and black berry fruits, potpourri, musk perfume and a savoury cured meats complexity. Beautifully pure and elegant with red berry concentration, great textural finesse and soft integrated acids. Wonderful harmony and pedigree. This is something very special indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Damascene Syrah 2020, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.

75% whole bunches used then aged in 2000 litre foudre from vines grown on brown schist soils. Aromatics are dark and broody with incense, waxy crayon, earthy black berry, black plum, lavender and wild bramble berry notes. The palate shows plenty of power, depth and concentration with focused mineral tannins, plenty of broody savoury black and blue berry fruits with a hint of black olive tapenade. Very Northern Rhone like in character and also quite individual. Another cracking wine.

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

Damascene Syrah 2020, WO Cederberg, 13.5% Abv.

Made using 45% whole bunches (on average), from one block at 940m above sea level. Shows classic Cederberg Shiraz aromatics of blue and black berry fruits, blue berry crumble, grey slate minerality and sweet vanilla pod dust. Palate is full and round with dense, sweet creamy tannins, cinamon spice, tart underlying acids and a taut linear structure. Lovely depth, fruit intensity and balance showing the true purity offered by Syrah from high elevation vineyards.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Damascene Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Grapes mainly from Vlottenburg vineyards grown on koffee klip and granite soils (graphite notes) and Helderberg and Bottlary Hills (cranberry notes). Aged 12 months in 80% new 225 litre oak barriques, second year in 1000 litre Austrian foudre. Lovely sweet cedar, wet tobacco, tannery leather and a mix of red and black berry fruits and grilled herbs. Rich, plush and creamy with cassis, blueberry, musk, red cherry and creamy tannins with bright mouth-watering acids. Very impressive expression of Stellenbosch Cabernet!

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

After a Short Absence, MR de Compostella Returns With One of their Most Iconic Releases to Date – Tasting the New 2020 Vintage…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 3 Comments

Mvemve Raats is a critically acclaimed collaboration between friends and winemakers Mzokhona Mvemve and Bruwer Raats. Bruwer is of course the owner, winemaker and mastermind behind Raats Family Wines, where he has earned a reputation for producing top notch Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc over the past 20+ years.

Mzokhona Mvemve, the first Indaba Scholarship recipient, is a graduate of Stellenbosch University and one of South Africa’s first qualified black oenologists. Together, since the 2004 maiden MR vintage, they have created one of South Africa’s most consistently high scoring premium quality icon Bordeaux blends in the Cape.

Assembling a new vintage of MR de Compostella is a massive feat of precision winemaking, organoleptic assessment and blending to create a wine whose whole is clearly greater than the sum of its parts. It is for this reason that utmost attention is paid to all blending building blocks from all varieties to ensure that the finished wine has the density, intensity, structure and finessed power to age for at least 20, 30 or 40 years in bottle. If these prerequisites cannot be met, the MR wine will not be bottled, like previously in 2010 and 2019, when the wine was declassified into the Raats Family Jasper red blend.

With the 2018 MR receiving the highest of international critical scores yet, and then no 2019 bottled, all eyes were on the 2020 to see what Bruwer and Mzokhona could create using their winemaking magic. With the international global release scheduled for late November, I recently met up with Bruwer Raats to assess the new 2020 edition of this Cape icon Red.

MR de Compostella 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv. 

Never made with exactly the same blend in any two vintages, the 2020 is a classic Cape Bordeaux assemblage of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot with a total production of only 1,000 x 6. The wine displays a real intensity in the glass with a ruby red rim and a red / black plum heart. The aromatics are vibrant and fabulously perfumed, bursting from the glass with expressive notes of red and black berry fruits, black currant, raspberry, red and black cherry, before notes of earthy blueberry emerge with suggestions of pressed violets, lavender, sweet sandalwood, star anise and graphite spice. On the palate, the vintage’s regal elegance emerges with exhilarating acids framing the plush opulent red and back berry fruits, saline cassis, tart red cherry and a blueberry confectionary generosity. Tasting the wine with Bruwer Raats, inevitable comparisons were made to the iconic 2017 MR, with both wines sharing a beautifully bright acid freshness and a weightless concentration of pure berry fruits with only the slightest suggestion of vanilla oak spice. This really is a wine with a mixed palette of colours, flavours and fruits and the most seamlessly elegant, finessed velvety tannins. Following on from the 2018 blockbuster, with no 2019 MR produced, this 2020 is a bold, enchanting, characterful wine full of precision that trumpets the return of this incredible benchmark Cape classic. A breathtaking wine on so many levels. Drink from 2024 to 2045+.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Vilafonte Excels with Another Impressive Wine of Harmony and Balance – Tasting the New Release Series C 2020…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

After returning from a very successful Cape Wine 2022 wine fair, the tragedies and hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic almost seem a distant faded nightmare. But as I start tasting a fresh wave of exciting new 2020 red releases, the memories of this unprecedented time come flowing back especially when you consider that many producers in the Cape, at the time, feared that they would not be able to even pick their succulent grapes as harvest approached. But if there is one thing wine producers are well versed at coping with, it is extreme disruption and endless uncertainties.

The 2019/2020 growing season brought fair and favourable conditions with a return to a more traditional cold and wet winter. With Spring came warm, fair-weather conditions resulting in an even, two-week early bud-break. As is often the case in the Cape vineyards, windy conditions during flowering resulted in a variable berry set and looser clusters with small intense berries. Thankfully, temperatures during ripening remained modest without any heatwaves, leading to an even, measured pace of ripening and picking. By the time the national Covid-19 lockdown was announced by the national government on the 26th March 2020, Vilafonte had already processed all wines safely to barrel.

Looking back to February 2020, it seems crazy to think that my visit then to the Vilafonte winery at the time would be part of my last visit to South Africa for over two years due to the pandemic. While the overall harvest continued into March, I clearly remember watching multiple trucks offloading the freshly picked Malbec grapes in late February that were tiny pea berry sized, pitch black, perfectly healthy and faultlessly formed. Spirits were high for another exceptional, high-quality harvest.

Vilafonte Series C 2020, WO Paarl, 14.5% Abv.

The 2020 Vilafonte Series C is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 10% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that was aged for 22 months in 68% new French oak barriques with the balance in older used French oak barrels. In the glass, the wine displays an intensely dark, alluring purple black colour and an expressive aromatics of violets, sweet macerated black cherries, blue berries, smoky cassis and touches of Christmas pudding, sweet cherry tobacco, melted liquorice, milk chocolate and ginger cake nuances. There are slight caramelised touches to the aromatics with hints of vanilla pod, clove oil, camphor and sweet cedar spice that melt seamlessly back into the rich, opulent black and blue fruited complexity. Full, rich and elegantly textured, the palate is laden with spicy black fruits, black cherry compote, black currant pastille and intriguing layers of cinnamon spice, salty liquorice and sun raisined blue berries. There in an impressive intensity and concentration on display yet the wine remains fine grained, harmonious and fresh, finishing with spicy, supple velvety tannins and yet more stony, pithy minerality. Delightfully ripe and sometimes erring on the side of hedonistic exoticism, the core essence of this wine is nevertheless built around balance, concentration, purity of fruit and brazen intensity without ever becoming overbearing. A wonderfully individual expression of the vintage, this delicious 2020 continues the Series C’s rock-solid consistency of premium form. Drink from 2024 and comfortably over the next 10 to 12+ years.

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

South Africa’s Iconic Cape Bordeaux Blend Brand Meerlust Estate Releases Their 2018 Rubicon…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

In November 2019, winemaker Wim Truter joined Meerlust, taking over from Chris Williams to become only the third winemaker to take the reins at this historic estate. Chris had finally followed his own calling and decided to move on to the next chapter of his winemaking career to further grow his own Foundry Winery brand. So, while technically the 2018 vintage is still regarded as the fruits of Chris’s labours, Wim Truter has done a fine job overseeing not only the release of this new Rubicon blend but also the declassification of the 2019 Rubicon vintage into the Meerlust Red 2019 for the first time since 2011. Meerlust Red 2019 reviewed here… https://gregsherwoodmw.com/2021/10/17/the-resurrection-of-the-meerlust-red-blend-tasting-the-2019-vintage-release/

There are few premium brands in South Africa who produce the high quantity of quality wine that Meerlust Estate does, and so it was inevitable that the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lock-down would have a disproportionately negative effect on sales of this world-famous brand that is listed by almost every leading hotel, restaurant and bar in South Africa as well as in a never-ending list of top restaurants and 5 Star hotels around the world. As a result, consumers have had a longer run of availability with the exceptional 2017 Rubicon that was rated 96+/100 on the Fine Wine Safari. But the time has finally come for the 2017 Rubicon to pass the baton over to the highly anticipated 2018 vintage. Meerlust Rubicon is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s greatest wine ambassadors. If you have not tasted it yet, you are indeed missing out on one of the great Bordeaux blends produced in the Cape.

The higher altitude and close proximity to the sea helped cool the vineyards during the hot and dry vintage of 2018.

Meerlust Estate Rubicon 2018, WO Stellenbosch, 14.3% Abv.

2.6 g/l RS | 5.54 g/l TA | 3.63 pH

The 2018 Rubicon is a classical blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, with every parcel of each variety fermented separately before undergoing malolactic fermentation in 300 litre barrels and large foudré. After 8 months in barrel, the components were blended and given another 10 months in barrel for harmonization before bottling. Wonderfully deep in colour, the nose is splendidly expressive showing quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon notes of pressed violets, black plum, sun raisin black currants, black salty liquorice, black chai tea, sweet cedar spice and layers of graphite and spearmint. While the aromatics are dominated by rich, dark berry fruits, the palate is classically proportioned with plenty of overt elegance and textural finesse – a great feat considering the heat and drought of the 2018 vintage. The extra bottle age before release has undoubtedly been a positive for this powerful, structured blend, helping to further round out the suave creamy tannins and harmonise the earthy black berry fruit layers, making the acids polished, glassy and fresh rather than taut and crunchy like many other 2018 reds. Unexpectedly approachable in its youth, I would have no hesitancy to cellar this super smart blend for another 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines available to the UK trade from Maisons Marques et Domaines Ltd and should retail for circa £30pb.

Brothers Pierre and JP Winshaw Honour Their Ancestors with An Accomplished Cape Bordeaux Blend – Tasting the Charles Winshaw Cuvee from Winshaw Vineyards…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I first met brothers Pierre and John Philip (JP) Winshaw in 2018 when I was asked to co-chair the incredible Whole Bunch Tasting titled ‘The Wines That Raised Us’, just before the Cape Wine 2018 trade fair. The Winshaw brothers had pulled a number of incredibly rare old South African heritage bottles out of their grandfather, Bill Winshaw’s cellar, to present to the who’s who of the world’s wine trade. It was at this prestigious tasting that I rated my first South African wine 100 points – the Chateau Libertas 1957, now a legendary wine.

Today, the Winshaws combine traditional farming with grape growing on their Stellenbosch property Klein Welmoed, selling fruit to some of Stellenbosch’s most notable producers. But the brothers not only make their own wines under the Usana label, but they have also more recently, started making a premium range of Cape Bordeaux blends under the Winshaw Vineyards label. The line-up includes a delicious straight Malbec (which I recently rated 93/100) and two super cuvees, one based around Cabernet Sauvignon and one based around Cabernet Franc. The two red blends honour their great-grandfather Dr William Charles Winshaw, founder of Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW), and the second their grandfather Bill, another key figure in the history of the SFW.

Ahead of my departure for Cape Wine 2022, I decided to get into the spirit of things by tasting and reviewing the Charles Winshaw Cuvee, their Cabernet Sauvignon based blend.

Winshaw Vineyards ‘Charles Winshaw Cuvee’ 2017, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

A serious blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec and 4% Merlot, I tasted this wine over the course of three days to assess its true fine wine potential. On opening, the aromatics showed classical Stellenbosch Cabernet notes of sweet tobacco, tannery leather, black currant, black plum, chai tea and freshly tilled earth notes. The palate was full and glycerol with creamy soft sweet tannins, layers of black and blue berry fruits with the classic 2017 vintage weightless concentration. Fabulously balanced with classical poise and harmony. But on day two and day three, the wine shed some of its initial sapidity and sweet tea leaf and tobacco notes to reveal an incredible purity, depth of blue and black berry fruits and a seamlessly vibrant cherry-laden tangy intensity on the finish. I am so pleased I gave this wine the time and space to really show its blue-blooded pedigree. As the cliché goes, the first glass was delicious, but the last glass was mind blowing. Track this beauty down if you can as the R300 local price tag (£16-£18) is ridiculously cheap. Drink now and over the next 12 to 15+ years.

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