Burgundy is full of talented wine makers, but every now and then, a new name comes along almost out of the blue, with incredible flair – this is Kei Shiogai – a superstar in the making. Originally from Japan, Kei left Tokyo to travel to New Zealand as he was so interested in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. After a short spell there, he was strongly encouraged by locals to pursue his passion in the true home of these varieties – Burgundy – where studied viticulture and vinification in Beaune and Dijon.
Kei arrived in Burgundy and proceeded to work with several top producers including Philippe Pacalet, Domaine Rousseau and Domaine Roulot. Indeed, his earlier vintages in Beaune were produced while he was still working at Domaine Roulot. Even with his 2020 vintage, Kei started to turn heads and draw attention to his wines with their incredible elegance and purity of fruit produced from modest “village level” sites. But it is of course with fruit sourced from the more premium Grand Cru sites that Kei has really started to redefine his own stylistic talents. With limited stocks due to arrive in the UK shortly, it seemed the perfect moment to review his second Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru release.
Kei Shiogai Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2023, Burgundy
The 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from Kei Shiogai is another exceptional expression with incredible attention to detail, showing aromas of limestone minerality, white flowers, pear fruits, lemon grass, sweet herbs, and buttered white toast nuances. On the palate the wine is taut yet elegantly textured and densely layered with a notable chalky dry extract but also seamlessly creamy, harmonious, and balanced. A decidedly more serious terroir driven, linear, minerally infused expression of Corton-Charlemagne than some of the more buttery mainstream examples on the market. Undeniably profound and a real high point in Kei’s 2023 white range. Drink from 2025 to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96-97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Kei Shiogai wine are available on allocation from his exclusive UK importer, Musigny Wines. Contact: Andrew@musigny.wine
It’s that time of year again! Tasting the unique micro expressions from some of South Africa’s top producers is no easy task. It used to be a real expose of some really unique wine styles of the ever evolving South African wine industry, but now, it feels like producers are evolving, maturing, and certainly playing it a little safer. Is that a bad thing? No, not at all!
Speaking to tasters, collectors (at the tasting) and producers, the feeling was very much that ALL wines were impressive and worthy of praise. But, many did feel that the innovation had been slightly dialled down in the name of premiumisation and in order to offer the wider global fine wine market a unique selection of wines that can be offered to incredibly fussy international merchants and collectors in a congested fine wine market place – wines that can’t be compared and contrasted to anything already available on the market.
Some will reflect on these wines and feel that they are not sufficiently “different” from the regular cuvées offered on the commercial market, but one has to bare in mind that many of the buyers engaging in the CWG auction are not in a viable position to access workable / commercial quantities of wines from these top producers now that European allocations have become so tightly controlled and limited. The CWG breaks that mould and expands the market for South African fine wine, bringing some incredibly high quality wines to a wider, new generation of collectors and connoisseurs. That alone should surely be celebrated. I for one remain a MASSIVE fan of the CWG concept and auction process and encourage enthusiasts to buy with confidence whether bidding directly or buying through a merchant channel like Bordeaux Index.
Scores at the doors…
AA Badenhorst Family Wines ‘Out Of The Strong Comes Forth Freshness’ Carignan 2024 – 93+/100
The Saldanha Wine & Spirit Co. Saldanha Pale Dry SEA, SALT, SAND AND WIND N.V. – 95/100
Ataraxia ‘Sympathy For The Pinot’ Pinot Noir 2024 – 94/100
Domaine Parent has long been a leading producer of premium wines in Burgundy. With a history going back many generations, Etienne Parent was rumoured to have sold wine to Thomas Jefferson back in 1787. Moving to the modern era, Domaine Parent is recognised as one of the first growers to sell their production in bottle rather than in bulk. Now run by 12th generation custodian Anne Parent, the domaine continues to produce some of the most eye-catching wines in Burgundy and specifically in Pommard.
Anne Parent has also been a trailblazer in biodynamics and a real force for strict vineyard management. Hence, the domaine has managed to stay very much at the top of the tree in the jostling for position in the village hierarchy. Her supreme confidence has led to the wines having an assertiveness, yet a true Burgundian opulence that is hard to resist. The wines are silky and plush – you really can finish a bottle with ease. From the everyday Bourgogne Pinot Noir to the mesmerising Crus of Pommard, all are hand-crafted with care and attention to detail.
The Parent label is instantly recognisable throughout the upper quality echelons of Burgundy, and the family is rightly proud of their hard-earned global reputation. In a competitive fine wine world where so many domaines have taken their eye off the ball, Anne has kept her love of the vineyard, her family history and future very much close to her. Part of this long-term planning has seen Anne bring her niece Constance Fages-Parent into the running and marketing of the domaine’s wines as preparations are slowly put in place for the next chapter in the history of this famous Burgundy winery.
Constance and Anne Parent
I recently travelled to see Anne and Constance in Burgundy to taste a selection of the newly released 2023 wines. Speaking to Anne about the new releases, she confirmed… “2023 was a generous vintage with great quality at the domaine. Perhaps not quite the gravitas of the exceptional 2022 vintage, but the wines are marked with beautiful fruit purity and opulence with accessibility.”
Tasting the 2023 wines with owner Anne Parent
The 2023 growing season brought both challenges and rewards: after a cool, rainy July, a late heatwave in August and early September ensured optimal ripeness. Harvest began in mid-September, with yields around 46–48 hl/ha and moderate alcohol levels (12.5–13.2%). Vinification was deliberately gentle, with reduced punching down and delicate extraction, restrained use of new oak, and a focus on preserving fruit purity above all.
Burgundy 2023 En-primeur Notes:
Domaine Anne Parent Monthelie Blanc 2023
Made from an AOC that is primarily 90% red / 10% white, this 2023 was picked early to retain acidity and vinified with 35% new French oak. The wine shows complex aromatics with leesy biscuit notes, a supple fleshy breadth with savoury waxy lemons and a white toast and oatmeal complexity on the finish. Really delicious. Drink from 2026 to 2034.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Corton Grand Cru 2023
100% new French oak used with no batonnage. Incredibly taut, mineral and stony with limestone and struck flint over zesty lemon and lime fruits, tart green apple and a beautifully supple, fleshy breadth with well-integrated acids and a pronounced fruit concentration on the finish. Understated power hiding under the minerality and terroir veil. Drink from 2026 to 2036.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Bourgogne Cote d’Or 2023
All fruit was destemmed and aged in older oak. Very intense perfumed aromatics bursting with life, boasting sweet violets, rose petals and luscious layers of raspberry and black cherry. The palate shows a fine textural breadth and equilibrium, finely balancing forest berry fruits, strawberry compote and cool, creamy mineral tannins. A truly classy Bourgogne. Drink from 2026 to 2032.
(Wine Safari Score: 90-91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Bourgogne Selection Pomone 2023
100% destemmed fruit with slightly longer maceration on skins in larger 600 litre barrels. The resulting wine reveals deeper and darker aromatics laced with black cherry, damson plum and exotic cherry kirsch liquor notes. Beautifully dense and creamy texture with extra depth and opulence, plushness and mouth coating concentration. Lovely intricacy and complexity in an accessible style. Drink from 2026 to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Ladoix 2023
The aromatics show a beautiful melange of red and black berry fruits with intricate notes of dried herbs, potpourri and rose petals, gun-smoke and limestone minerality. Broad and beautifully dark fruited on the palate with a creamy black cherry compote concentration, plush fleshy tannins and a broad, comforting, reassuring power. Ladoix over performs once again. Drink from 2026 to 2036.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnieres 2023
From Pinot Noir grown on brown and red clay soils that offers a more generous expression. Dark and alluring aromatics of black cherry, kirsch liquor and damson plum with an exotic sloe berry hint. The palate shows a beautiful creamy breadth and understated power with an impressive depth, powdery tannins and tangy freshness. Understated power combined with a little Pommard intrigue and intensity. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Epenots 2023
40% whole bunch used with 50% new French oak from fruit grown on a lighter, finer grain of clay soils without much depth. Yields a fabulously fragrant expression bursting with life, packed full of perfumed violets, creme de cassis, black cherry and blueberry compote. The chalky candied pink musk nuances make this an incredible complex and compelling offering with seamless limestone tannins and a fantastic intense finish. A truly elegant Pommard classic. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes 2023
From Pinot Noir grown on deep limestone soils on the hill of Corton, just above Les Bressandes. The wine is rich and expressive, full of ripe brûléed fruits, black cherries and a bramble berry savoury depth. Sleek and supple in the mouth, there is a polished accessibility, light touch elegance, bright racy acids and a long, distinguished, concentrated finish. Very classy indeed. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Domaine Anne Parent wines are imported into the UK by Musigny Wines. The 2023 En-primeur releases are currently being offered in September 2025 by Musigny Wines. Email andrew@musigny.wine to request a 2023 EP offer and discuss an allocation.
The Vergelegen Estate has to rank as one of the most beautiful and historical wine estates in the fairest Cape. Established in 1700, it once stood as an iconic 3,200-hectare property just a stone’s throw away from the icy False Bay and the beach side hamlet of Somerset West. It was Willem Adriaan, the son of the famous Simon van der Stel, who first settled at Vergelegen. Over the centuries, the property has seen various ownership before the estate was sold to the famous industrialist Barlow family in 1941. Roll forward to 1987 when the estate was sold to mining giant, Anglo-American Corporation, being incorporated under their Amfarms division.
Anglo American initially hired Martin Meinert as their winemaker and planted 100 hectares of vines on the property, opening their impressive winery in 1992. Martin Meinert left Vergelegen in 1997 and was replaced by the legendary André van Rensburg in 1998. Andre helped re-establish Vergelegen as one of the great wineries of the Cape, becoming famous for championing Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, singularly and in blends, as well as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cape Bordeaux blends.
On Andre’s retirement in 2021, Luke O’Cuinneagain was hired from Glenelly Estate to fill the fairly sizable shoes and reputation left behind by André. I have caught up with Luke in London several times in the past months, most recently at Tim Atkin MW’s Best of South Africa Tasting in May 2025. The below notes act as merely a snapshot of the ongoing progress currently being made at the estate.
Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
Bright and perfumed, full of white blossom, gooseberries, green apple and white citrus with a gentle savoury, leesy core. Plush, elegant, and seamlessly textural with creamy crystalline flavours of white peach, green apple and spicy mint leaf and dried herbs on the long finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Estate White 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
A delicious blend of 56% Semillon and 44% Sauvignon Blanc displays a delicately savoury earthy aromatics with hints of apple puree, fresh fennel root, smoky dried herbs, butter and lanolin. Wonderfully taut, pure, chiselled and precise on the palate with a liquid minerality, a tight fresh frame, beautiful clarity and a spicy white peach and pithy yellow citrus finish. Lovely focus and intensity. Very serious indeed.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Chardonnay Reserve 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
Partial malolactic fermentation employed using 19% new French oak for circa 10 months. 7% portion aged in stainless steel that is then back blended. Natural and inoculated yeasts used. Aromatic nose with hints of creme brûlée, custard cream, and caramelised citrus with hints of apple puree, dried herbs, grilled nuts and salted pistachios. Seamless and elegant, very fine and textural, this is showing great potential already.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Rich plummy aromatics are packed with black currant, chocolate praline, and a delicately sappy, leafy spice kissed by vanilla pod. The texture is wonderfully plush and creamy, deliciously approachable and generous boasting sweet fleshy tannins and a long, long plush finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Merlot Reserve 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Quite a classical restrained broody aromatics with subtle hints of red and black currant, dried herbs, and a wet stone minerality. The palate is plush and broad with supple creamy silky tannins revealing a fine accessible freshness and vibrant fruit intensity from a reduced time of 8 months in French oak barrel. Impressive for a single cultivar Merlot.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
This warm dry vintage shows attractive aromatics of intense sweet black currant, sappy cedar, graphite and sweet cherry pipe tobacco. Fabulously attractive expression with an earthy savoury palate with some notes of molasses, damson plum, graphite and black currant compote on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Generally more classical and restrained with an altogether broodier mineral expression, showing black currants, stewed plum, and a saline oyster shell maritime precision. The palate follows with a deliciously vibrant acidity beautifully integrated into a soft textured black cherry fruited intensity. True to the vintage, a wine with plenty focus and class.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Estate Red 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
This blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot shows a fine complex melange of rich black and earthy red berry fruit flavours, freshly tilled earth, plum compote, and accessible saline cassis and stony graphite intensity. Texturally generous, creamy and soft textured, this is a powerful expression that finishes with a long, stony, restrained minerality. Very impressive.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen Estate Red 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Delightfully dense and dark fruited, there is a broody depth to the wine revealed through black fruited mineral aromatics, crushed granite, graphite, with an underlying teasing hint of sweet cedar and sappy sandalwood. Impressively cool, elegant and weightlessly concentrated, the balance is exceptional with a very fine integrated acidity but an incredibly understated complexity. Beautiful.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen V 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, 13% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Franc. Cool, dark, and broody with aromatics showing subtle hints of blueberry, black currant, wet earth and damson plum. Sleek and silky, the palate is very fine and pin point pure with satin-like chalky tannins and a powdery, salty cassis finish. A very classy and understated wine with true pedigree.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen V 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Cool sleek and restrained with a dusty granitic elegance over some delicate aromatics of blueberry, purple fruits, earthy cassis and a notable iodine intensity. The palate texture is taut and mineral, tightly strung with a spicy mineral intensity, cool stony graphite hints, and a subtle smoky finish. Beautiful balance, purity, and poise.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vergelegen V 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
A fine, dark, sumptuous earthy black fruited wine with hints of brûléed coffee beans, earthy black currant, tannery leather, black cherry and cedar spice. The power, depth and muscle of the 2019 vintage are laid bare for all to experience. Another very serious offering from the estate.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Vergelegen Estate wines are imported into the UK and distributed by Seckford Agencies.
In an age before the Young Guns and Swartland Rhone Rangers, the region of Stellenbosch was king apparent. Seen as the most premium of wine regions close to Cape Town, Stellenbosch was also the historical home of some of the earliest land grants and established wine estates once you moved beyond the limits of the Constantia Valley. While the fortunes of the Stellenbosch region and its top producers may have ebbed and flowed over the decades, the mid to late 1990’s definitely marked the last high-water mark for many of the region’s top producers. One name that was and still remains synonymous with top quality wine production is Thelema Mountain Vineyards, located next to Tokara Estate and just on the other side of the valley from Delaire-Graff.
The famed Thelema Merlot Reserve.
The past successes and established fame of Thelema might have been slightly overshadowed by the advent of the new wave of Young Gun producers, but looking at the estate today, the Thelema Estate is once again producing some of the best quality wines in Stellenbosch. With the global spotlight well and truly back on Stellenbosch internationally, now is the time for its producers to reassert the premium winemaking proposition the region is so blessed to possess.
The Thelema Chardonnay 2023 is one of the top Stellenbosch expressions on the market.
Many producers have put up their hand to lead the charge and Thelema is most definitely one of them. With several new red and white Thelema releases about to hit the market, I took a look at two of their true classics… their Chardonnay 2023 and their Merlot Reserve 2022. Reviews on the Rabelais 2022 and The Mint Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 to follow soon.
Thelema Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
Made from vines planted in 1989, 2000 and 2009 on decomposed granitic Hutton soils using clones CY3 and CY5, the wine was fermented and matured in 228 litre French oak barrels for 10 months, around 35% new oak with the balance all in multiple passage barrels. This crystalline 2023 Thelema Chardonnay simply shimmers in the glass with a canary yellow pale gold and just the faintest of green tinges on the rim. The aromatics are delightfully enticing, offering a deliciously complex bouquet of lemon blossom, lime peel, tangerine, pithy white citrus, green apple rock candy and delicately savoury biscuit notes that combine seamlessly with a stony granitic hint of reduction. On the palate, the incredibly pithy, mineral, bitter lemon and lime cordial character is seriously mouthwatering with an underlying wet stone minerality, a classically taut steely mouthfeel and a long, bracingly fresh drying finish. This is a seriously grown-up Burgundian-styled expression of Chardonnay showing pinpoint purity combined with a pronounced saline, mouth-watering persistence. I simply love it! Drink on release and over the next 5 to 8+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Thelema Mountain Vineyards Merlot Reserve 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
5.1 g/l TA | 3.5pH
The Thelema Reserve Merlot is aged for 18 months in 55% new French oak barrels and always offers up that extra bit of complexity and depth that is so often lacking on Merlots in the Cape. The vines, planted in 1988 and 2000 are in the prime of their life and confidently offer up a perfumed aromatics of oregano and thyme herbs, potpourri, and mint leaf before richer, more opulent notes of freshly baked cherry crumble, caramelized red plums and earthy black currant emerge from the glass. Plenty of youthful energy abounds, with the sweet sappy cedar and delicately toasted vanilla pod oak spices leading your palate down a path of seduction, where fruit purity is paramount and the soft, silky, fine-grained mineral tannins are neatly hemmed in by bright, integrated, refined acids and tangy red cherry and macerated strawberry pastille fruits. This is a wine of balance and elegance with its own unique sense of supple, understated intensity and textural harmony. This is already an absolute joy to drink now but hold on to your hat as this ‘Reserve’ beauty will shift gears in 3 to 5 years’ time and offer up an altogether more succulent, complex expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Thelema wines are available to the trade in the UK from Enotria & Coe.
The DuMOL winery was founded in 1996 and is focused on crafting highly nuanced, vineyard-focused Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from distinctive sites in the cool-climate Russian River Valley. Winegrower and Partner Andy Smith leads a small and experienced team at DuMOL, where they craft wines with depth, clarity and elegance through attention to detail in the vineyards and vintage-specific winegrowing.
DuMOL believes the best fertilizer is the footsteps of the farmer and is dedicated to a portfolio of estate and grower-partner vineyards primarily within a 16-kilometre radius. Expanding upon twenty-five years of experience, DuMOL also grows and produces some small-lot Syrahs, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, and Mencía from some of the most impressive vineyards in Sonoma and Napa. The full DuMOL portfolio is released through allocations to the mailing list, with select wines distributed to top restaurants worldwide. In the UK, the wines are distributed to the on and off trade by Raeburn Fine Wines and I recently caught up with Andy Smith to taste through the spectacular current releases.
“The 2022s were lighter styled wines initially that really put on weight during elevage.” – Andy Smith
DuMOLChardonnay Highland Divide 2022, Russian River Valley, 14% Abv.
A rich opulent and expressive aromatics generously offering sweet lemon cordial, toasted pistachios, pecan pie, honey and salted caramel notes. Full, broad and fleshy on the palate with immediate concentration intensity, smokey wet stone minerality, grilled nuts, yellow grapefruit confit and toasted vanilla pod spice on the finish. Impressively fresh, tangy and picante. Drink now to 2032+.
Rich expressive aromatics with a toasty, brûléed aromatics with sappy spicy oak, pithy lemon peel, gravelly minerality and dry roasted nuts. The palate is taut and tightly wound but still offers up notable depth and concentration, spicy lemon confit, vanilla pod spice, and dried herbs, finishing with elegance, harmony and poise. Drink now to 2034+.
A very complex aromatics offering up complex notes of sweet tangy lemon, smoky yellow stone fruits, salted toffee, green tea and a delicate vanilla pod kiss. Beautiful weight of fruit greets the palate with a creamy, plush, harmonious breadth of glycerol fruit, lemon oil, white peach, crystallised green apples and salted pistachios. This is undoubtedly a profound, layered, complex glass of very fine cool climate Chardonnay that makes absolutely no effort to hide its obvious greatness. Simply superb. Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
DuMOL Pinot Noir Highland Divide 2022, Russian River Valley, 13.5% Abv.
A beautifully seductive, perfumed Pinot Noir nose brimming with musk, rose petals and lilac fragrance alongside sweet earthy red currant berry fruit, red plum, bramble berries and blood orange. A seemless entry makes way for a broad, silky, sensual mouthfeel boasting saline red and tart black berry notes, raspberry herbal tea, pomegranate and vibrant yet harmonious ruby grapefruit depth that lingers on a cool, finessed finish. This has classy Pinot written all over it! Drink now to 2035+.
The aromatics display a beautifully elegant restrained intensity, offering up subtlety and delicacy. There are soft touch aromatics of sun dried cranberry, red cherry, bramble berries and pomegranate with a subtle savoury bresaola hint. The palate reveals a regal structure and power, stony mineral tannins over fine grained, taut, spicy black fruits, supported by the most seamlessly integrated acids. The start and finish are hard to define. Simply beautiful, serious Pinot Noir. Drink now to 2040.
This cuvee shows a decidedly sweeter fruit aromatics full of red currant, earthy red plum, and ripe pomegranate notes. Fruit forward and opulent, the palate follows with pristinely pure red and black berry fruits, silky mineral tannins and a long, exotic Asian five spice finish. The ripe, slightly sappy red fruited aromatics marry well with a delicately smoky, stony textured palate with great persistence, elegance and length. Very impressive.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
DuMOL Pinot Noir Finn 2022, Russian River Valley, 13.5% Abv.
The initial reaction to nosing this wine is its obvious restraint and classicism. The aromatics are deeper and darker with lovely savoury bramble berry fruits, cured meats, blood orange, citrus oil and subtle pomegranate nuances. The palate shows a fine tension and structure with a subtle line of salinity and a vibrantly tart underlying acidity. The palate balance is notable, the tannins tightly interwoven into a classically restrained broody savoury fruit profile. Plenty of depth on display here, making for a very serious expression. Drink 2026 to 2040.
This is a classy Cabernet Sauvignon fully loaded with sweet tobacco, black chai tea, cocoa, black currant and black cherry kirsch nuances. The texture is full and mouth-filling, but also beautifully silky, supple and creamy revealing all the power, minerality and spice you’d hope for but all supported by a seamlessly harmonious red and black berry fruit intensity. A finely honed wine with balance, elegance and poise. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.
Tasting the new releases of Restless River’s Estate wines, it is fascinating to witness the slow and calculated evolution of this beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde winery. The exploratory, experimental “pushing the boundaries” mood music has shifted subtly to a far more confident, serious, assured market positioning. Correspondingly, in the wider market place, both locally in South Africa and internationally, Restless River has entered a new phase of consolidating the quality and reputational branding Craig and Anne have worked so hard and conscientiously to establish since their maiden releases over a decade ago.
The new Restless River Estate releases.
Part of this new phase of range consolidation has seen a change of distribution in the UK market as well as the launch of two “entry level” Restless River Estate cuvées to help introduce a new segment of wine consumers to the vinous wonders of the larger Restless River brand ethos.
Craig Wessels pouring his new releases in London in May 2025.
In true Craig Wessels style, no corners have been cut with these two new wines, both of which continue the authentic style and quality you’d expect from a premium estate and should rank among the most exciting new releases for consumers from the Cape Winelands in recent years. Watch out for a third new “entry level” red wine, a younger vine Cabernet Sauvignon that will be hitting the market later in the year.
Restless River Chardonnay 2023, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13% Abv.
It’s incredibly difficult to engage completely unbiasedly in a first tasting of this new ‘young vine’ Restless River estate wine when I am such a huge fan and admirer of everything Craig Wessels has achieved on his picturesque estate in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. But looking strictly at the wine in the glass, it possesses a twinkling crystalline canary yellow gold hue with aromatics that are delicately expressive but sophisticatedly restrained all at once, with a bouquet of white blossoms, granitic mineral spice, lemons in brine, pithy white citrus, and subtle hints of dry hay. The palate is wonderfully taut, crisp, and vibrantly fresh but let’s its serious demeanour slip a little with overt, showy pockets of sweet lemon and lime pastille fruit concentration, sweet baking herbs, and delicate vanilla pod spices. The acids are deliciously tangy and the textural structure fresh, vibrant, and accessible suggesting that this 2023 is certainly ready to drink now ahead of its more serious sibling, the Ava Marie Chardonnay. I love what Craig has managed to create with this new, more accessible style without losing any of the steely essence and intensity that makes Restless River’s Chardonnays so special. Drink now to 2035.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Restless River Pinot Noir 2023, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13% Abv.
The second new wine in the Restless River range alongside the estate Chardonnay is this exciting young vine Pinot Noir, created as a support wine to the denser and more structured Le Luc Pinot Noir. Once again, Craig has nailed the style offering an accessible, bright juicy Pinot Noir with perfumed aromatics of violets, strawberry compote, blood oranges and red cherry fruits that intermingle with hints of polished mahogany, pomegranates, and sweet Christmas spices. On the palate, the wine is sleek, supple, and silky smooth showing a beautifully balanced mid-weight fruit concentration of red currants, strawberries, and cherries together with bright tangy acids and fine grained, savoury mineral tannins, all assembled in a pleasingly sophisticated manner. This is a delightfully accessible Pinot Noir packed full of energy and mouthwatering freshness that’s ready to drink on release.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Restless River Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 14.1% Abv.
Craig and Anne Wessels finally release their highly anticipated 2021 Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon, named as such after their two oldest blocks planted in 1998 in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The 2021 was aged in 225 litre French oak barriques for 24 months, 25% of which were new. The aromatics are deep, dark and slightly broody on opening, before offering up succulent cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon notes of violets and white blossoms, freshly cut sandalwood, sappy cedar spice, macerated red cherries and crème de cassis before delicate hints of black olive tapenade, graphite, bay leaf and black currant herbal tea. The palate is wonderfully sensual and silky, texturally fine boned yet vibrant with an underlying mouthwatering tangy acidity that’s masterfully integrated with silky powdery tannins. With more time in the glass, the tart red cherry notes become more accentuated, mingling with savoury herbal notes, cola, and blueberry rock candy nuances. This is a wonderfully accomplished expression of elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that wears its own unique cool climate Hemel-en-Aarde Valley character with pride. Allow this excellent 2021 vintage to integrate and flesh out further before drinking from 2026 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Restless River Le Luc Pinot Noir 2022, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13% Abv.
Pinot Noir is a challenging grape to grow in South Africa, but it has undoubtedly found a home from home in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley of Walker Bay. The Le Luc Single Vineyard Pinot Noir from Craig Wessels seems to get better and better every year and with the 2022 vitnage, you see an accomplished wine made from vines planted in 2013. The wine was fermented using 10% whole bunches before being matured in 228 litre barrels for 12 months, 30% of which were new. The aromatics are loaded with toasty, bruleed notes of chargrilled meats, bramble berries, macerated ripe strawberries and earthy red currants before notes of rose petals, leafy black currant, porcini mushrooms and sweet Asian spices. The palate is spicy and sleek, tight knit, but silky and very polished with a medium bodied weight of earthy, brambly fruits and plums in liquor followed by a long, peppery red and black berry fruited finish that’s caressed by sweet soft tannins and bright tangy acids. Enjoy this classy expression on release and over its first 5 to 8 years in bottle.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Restless River Ava Marie Chardonnay 2022, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 12.78% Abv.
While Craig Wessels has overseen a multitude of new plantings around his winery, the Chardonnay grapes for the Ava Marie are among the oldest in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley having been planted in 1999. The resulting wine was matured for 12 months in mostly 500 litre barrels of which 10% were new, together with portions aged in terracotta amphorae and stainless-steel barrels. Pale gold and star bright in the glass, this 2022 has a youthfully alluring aromatics showing citrus blossom, white flowers, lemon oil, and tangerine peel as well as lemon biscuits, oatmeal, and delicate savoury, leesy nuances. There is a hint of smoky struck flint reduction but perhaps far less than on some previous vintages at this same youthful stage. On the palate the precision is enhanced by a notable purity and crystallinity and a linear laser sharp texture, with layers of lemon citrus, yellow grapefruit pith, toffee apples and a vanilla pod dusting. The acidity is vibrant and intense but also beautifully integrated with the medium bodied fruit concentration. This is undoubtedly a very complete wine with a seamless textural demeanour, a majestic balance, and a long pithy wet granite minerality on the polished finish. Drink this beauty on release and over the next 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Restless River wines are imported into the UK market by Liberty Wines.
Castello della Sala, considered one of the most extraordinary examples of medieval architecture in Italy, is located in Umbria, a short distance from the Tuscan border – about 11 miles from the historic city of Orvieto. The estate’s 229 hectares (565 acres) are planted with traditional varieties such as Procanico and Grechetto, but also with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sèmillon, Pinot Bianco, Viognier, and a small percentage of Traminer and Riesling.
Cervaro archive vertical 2005-2013
This famous Antinori family estate started producing innovative wines from the non-traditional grape varieties of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc back in the 1980s under the direction of Marchese Piero Antinori, son of Niccolò, along with Renzo Cotarella, Castello della Sala’s enologist at that time.
Castello della Sala, Umbria
The Umbrian estate has always posed – and still continues to pose – a continuous challenge for Marchesi Antinori who has dedicated years of research and experimentation in viticulture and oenology to maximize the potential of indigenous varieties and also to determine how the area’s microclimates contribute to the production of contemporary wines.
Chardonnay vineyards at Castello della Sala
Bramito della Sala is the estate’s 100% Chardonnay cuvee that was first produced in 1994. The grapes are from younger Chardonnay vines on the estate, sitting on soils rich in fossil deposits with veins of clay that give this wine minerality and elegance. The juice is only part barrel fermented, with malolactic fermentation lending a luscious creamy texture and flavour to the wine.
Masterclass with Allegra Antinori
The estate’s flagship wine, Cervaro della Sala, was one of the first Italian white wines to employ malolactic fermentation and ageing taking place in French oak barriques. The name Cervaro comes from the noble family who owned Castello della Sala during the 14th century: the Monaldeschi della Cervara. A blend of Chardonnay grapes and a small quantity of Grechetto (normally around 10%) make a wine that can age well over time and represents the elegance and complexity of this unique estate. After several failed attempts in the early 1980’s, the first official release was heralded in 1985 with a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Grechetto to add an Italian twist to the wine.
Archive stock sealed under cork and heavy wax.
“There is a subliminal tension between the Chardonnay and Grechetto and you kind of feel while they agree to cohabit together, they will never truly shake hands and be the best of friends. For Cervaro, this is perhaps the secret recipe, allowing the wines to retain a tension, tautness, nerve, and vigour.” ~ Allegra Antinori
Marchesi Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2005, Umbria, 13% Abv.
85% Chardonnay and 15% Grechetto – Beautiful deep straw yellow, the 2005 has an alluring nose of crushed mint leaf, baking herbs, wet hay, burnt sugar, toffee apples and spicy, dusty, slatey minerality. The palate shows great subtlety, creamy harmony and sumptuous tertiary earthy, lemony depth. Impressive gravitas, great breadth and a beautifully complex finish of honey, camomile tea and caramelised lemons. A pleasure to drink.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marchesi Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2006, Umbria, 13% Abv.
85% Chardonnay and 15% Grechetto – The most complex of aromatics with brioche, caramel, Coche-Dury’esque struck match flinty notes, lemon pith and proviteroll richness. Incredible green gauge intensity, yellow citrus, basalt minerality, mint leaf, and honeyed camomile tea. Wonderful to see a wine finally revealing its heart and soul to the drinker after 18+ years of bottles captivity.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marchesi Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2009, Umbria, 13% Abv.
85% Chardonnay and 15% Grechetto – A beautifully complex nose that marries creamy lemon pastille and white peach confit with struck match Burgundian flinty reduction. Everything is in such superb balance, with great synergy between wood spice, minerality, and vibrant acidity. Intense and mineral, this wine reveals the true pedigree of Cervaro!
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marchesi Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2011, Umbria, 13.5% Abv.
90% Chardonnay and 10% Grechetto – Still taut, restrained mineral nose with hints of truffle, wet chalk, lemon pastille, and bruised yellow orchard fruits peppered with a delicious struck match reduction. The palate is soft, broad and sumptuous, seamlessly intense and saline backed by a wonderful backbone of pithy citrus and dusty, gravelly, minerality. Wonderful harmonious peachy, vibrant finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marchesi Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2013, Umbria, 12.5% Abv.
90% Chardonnay and 10% Grechetto – Rich toasty nose brimming with buttered toast, lemon blossom, caramelised apples, and vanilla pod spice lift. The palate shows great tension, flinty minerality and piquant spicy skin and wood tannins that are beautifully integrated with yellow orchard fruits, pithy citrus and spicy lemon crumble. Taut, young, and very impressive.
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.
Thelema is one of the most famous estates in the Stellenbosch region and since 2015 has firmly returned to the top of their game. In many ways, the answers to rediscovering their newly energised glory have all been found by returning to the original terroir based principles which made this estate one of the most sought after brands back in the 1990s under the leadership of Gyles Webb.
Of course, while Thelema is proud of its acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot legacy, they are not resting on their laurels, but instead are also championing one of South Africa’s new darling grapes – Grenache. The 2022 vintage is an exciting interpretation made from Stellenbosch fruit that looks set to rival some of the finest local expressions from the Swartland and Piekenierskloof regions.
Thelema Mountain Vineyards Merlot 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
An incredibly sleek, soft textured Merlot red that’s beautifully supple, delicate and generous with classical aromatics of red currants, liquorice stick, chocolate peppermint crisp, black berries, sweet cedar spice and stony graphite nuances. The palate texture is delicate yet precise, seductively light footed and sleek with silky red berry fruits, creamy powdery tannins, and a mouth filling breadth that’s weightless yet at the same time substantial. While this wine doesn’t possess the added structure of the Merlot Reserve cuvée, it’s still very suave, accessible and delightfully pure fruited. Drink from 2026 to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Thelema Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The 2021 Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon represents another highly anticipated release from one of Stellenbosch’s preeminent producers. Four years from vintage, the 2021 is evolving beautifully, displaying aromatics that veer more towards the black fruit spectrum as well as a cool, sleek, disarming purity of black currant and damson plum fruits with floral layers of violets, sweet cedar spice and black berry herbal tea nuances. The palate shows a tightly wound weightless fruit concentration together with an edgy, tensile tannin structure intelligently framed by fresh, crisp acids that lend a real vitality and energy to the wine. A truly commendable vintage that offers a majestic sense of finely honed power and composure with a black tea and dried kelp infused finish. This is yet another cellar worthy classic. Drink on release to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Thelema Mountain Vineyards Grenache 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
This Thelema expression of Grenache is fabulously sleek and charming, impressively polished and pinpoint with perfumed aromatics of violets, red bramble berries, raspberries, bay leaf herbs and minty milk chocolate. The texture is cool and polished, the palate weight light to medium bodied, showing impressive clarity and purity, spicy red berry fruits, hints of cherry cola, a deliciously tangy fresh acidity, and a spicy, silky tannin finish. A wonderfully vibrant Grenache full of panache. Drink now to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Thelema Chardonnay 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
Always daunting following a vintage like the blockbuster Thelema Chardonnay 2021, but with the 2022 release, we have another substantial white wine that was aged for 10 months in 228-litre barrels of which 35% was new French oak. The aromatics are complex and utterly enticing, balancing notes of wet granite, pithy lemon peel, yellow grapefruit, freshly baked pastries and dried herbs before subtle struck flint reductive hints. The palate is crystalline, bright and fresh with a creamy vanillary oak spice that melts away gently into yellow citrus, candied green apples and tart white pear. This is a wine that will please a lot of Chardonnay drinkers with its classy oaking, crisp vibrant acids and its long, concentrated fleshy finish. Classic Stellenbosch Chardonnay done well! Drink on release until 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Thelema Wines are imported into the UK by Enotria Wines.
