Muscat

A Deep Dive Into the Seductive Red Wines of the Southern Rhône’s Beaumes de Venise Appellation…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

There are few more beautiful regions in the southern Rhone Valley than Beaumes-de-Venise. This enchanting wine regions is towered over by the striking Dentelles de Montmirail peaks, limestone outcrops from the Jurassic era, the sloping vineyards of this tiny southern Rhône cru and its five picture postcard villages possessing a true classical beauty. With a mosaic of complex soils situated on slopes at altitudes as high as 600m, this region seems to tick all the correct boxes for a new generation of wine drinkers looking for quality, individuality, and affordability, all presented with a rich historically storied past.

Interestingly, Beaumes de Venise was one of the first French wine regions I visited on my return to Europe from South Africa in 2000. Coming five years before the appellation changes in 2005, the region was firmly dominated by sweet Muscat wines with red wines very much an afterthought – the red wines living in the shadow of more notable up and coming villages like Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Sablet, etc. I knew it was beautiful as a region and incredibly complex geologically, having hiked the Dentelle de Montmirail trails… which normally means it should be perfect red wine terroir as well.

Beaumes-de-Venise’s world-class Vins Doux Naturels (VDNs), sweet wines fortified to 15%, aka AOC Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, might be what the region is best known for, but as I discovered during a recent three day tasting trip to the region, there is so much more to discover and explore about this beautiful part of the southern Rhône Valley. 

While the regions Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise VDN sweet wines need no introduction, having been served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the Cru status for the reds wines was only conferred on Beaumes-de-Venise reds in 2005. These must be an assemblage of at least 50% Grenache and 25% Syrah, with other Rhône varieties permitted such as Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Counoise.

White varietals like Viognier, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc can also be added but must make up no more than 10% of the blend. In practice, the majority of producers stick with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Currently, the INAO is still considering the AOC’s application in 2022 to include dry white wines under the same Cru designation.

The uniqueness of Beaumes-de-Venise’s terroir lies in its complex geological diversity, with four soil types: Triassic red earth, grey Jurassic earth, Cretaceous white earth and blond Miocene earth. The emergence of the Dentelles de Montmirail brought the Triassic deposits to the surface around the village of Suzette, whose soils are ideal for Syrah, providing richness, suppleness and longevity. Grey Jurassic earth is found north of the village of Lafare, being made up of silt, clay and sand which is perfect for Grenache. Cretaceous white earth around the village of La Roque-Alric, with its marly clay-limestone soil, is good for both Syrah and Grenache, which are grown on terraces, or ‘banquettes’, that boost groundwater retention. Blond Miocene earth’s clay-sand soils are best for Muscat, providing finesse, freshness and floral aromas. This blend of soil types gives Beaumes-de-Venise wines distinctive complexity and balance.

Beaumes de Venise celebrating 100 years – 80 years for sweet wines plus 20 for the red wine appellation.

For the UK market, there is definitely a significant opportunity for the red blends focusing on Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. Most interestingly for me, despite the 14 to 15 % alcohol levels on the wines, they all retained incredible purity, freshness and focus more in keeping with wines that are 13 or 13.5% abv. But the limestone soils and altitude definitely bring something special to the wines. In the wider wine market, there is undoubtedly plenty of interest in the UK for the £16.99 to £22.99 price point wines that should see consumers getting a very accomplished red wine showing fruit purity, concentration, and structure.

AOC Beaumes-de-Venise Red Tasting:

1 Domaine Sant Amant 2024

Enticing sweet herbs, Xmas spices and black berries with a dusty stony, mineral undertone. Fresh and crunchy, texture shows tension, acid frame and lovely red and black fruit clarity with a tangy finish. 

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

2 Domaine Pierre Rougon 2024

Full of dark broody black berry fruit aromatics with a dusty limestone minerality. Lovely pithy mineral tannins, restraint and grip but fine grained and full of energy with a saline liquorice kiss on the finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

3 Sarl Persephone Domaine Suzette 2024

Deep earthy black berry fruits with damson plum, black cherry and sweet bramble berry spices. The texture is fleshy and compact showing depth and breadth but also a creamy black fruited depth with plush powdery tannins and a saline intensity on the harmonious finish.

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

4 Domaine Caroline Bonnefoy 2023

Intense perfumed aromatics packed full of sour plum, peach skins, violets and lavender fragrance. Bright and fruity, the palate is tangy and mouth watering with a sweet / sour acidity with soft fleshy layers of red and black berry fruit on the finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

5 Domaine de Fenouillet Terres Blanches 2023 

Dark broody nose with exotic black cherry and wild strawberry notes. The texture is sleek and polished, the tannins fine grained and powdery, finishing with chalky, grippy mineral tannins. A real terroir feel to this wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

6 Domaines des Bernardins 2023

The aromatics are dusty and savoury with sappy spicy notes, peppery black berries, and a smoky flinty hint. The palate is fruity and bright full of red and black berry fruits, tangy acids and a sappy brambly finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

7 Domaine des Garances Alazard 2023

A delicately perfumed aromatics showing musk, lavender, potpourri, black plums, red currants and black cherry. Palate shows crisp acids and notable delineation with wild strawberry and bramble berry fruits over a stony limestone minerality.

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

8 Domaine du Grand Montmirail Terres Blondes 2023

Piercing and pure fruited with violets, lavender, red cherries and red berries. Crisp, pure and very focused with an impressive textural precision. Very impressive balance. Real class.

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

9 Domaine La Ligiere Les Garennes 2023

Deep broody complex aromatics show herbs and spices, black berry fruits, musk and lavender. The palate is plush and ripe with a sweet sour acidity alongside plummy red and black fruits, bramble berries and hints of breakfast brown toast.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

10 Domaine Raboly Clement V 2023

Delightfully perfumed nose of dried violets, potpourri and lavender alongside red and black berry fruits. The palate is crisp, pure and taut, full of energy and tension, polished marble tannins, tangy acids and a sleek harmonious long finish showing class and pedigree. Wow!

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

11 Famille Petitjean Les Contreforts de Montmirail 2023

Bright fruity nose showing raspberry ripple, strawberry confit and sour red plum with a smoky mineral hint. Deliciously tangy and red fruited, the finish is long, characterful and delicately salty.

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

12 Famille Petitjean Tradition 2023

Dark fruited aromatics showing damson plum, bramble berries and garrigue spice. There’s a focused precision on the palate, crisp acids and an accessible, long, fleshy finish with soft pliable tannins.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

13 Domaine Pierre Rougon Les Vins Pierre Rougon 2023

Attractive aromatics of damson plum, black currant, violets and salty cassis. The texture is polished and tight knit, sleek, balanced and fine grained with creamy red and black fruits and a harmonious blackberry fruited finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

13B Jean Pierre Cartier Rouge 2023

Shows a melange of perfume and lavender, musk and bathroom soaps with potpourri and garrigue spices. The palate is fleshy and creamy, full but accessible and deliciously chalky and tight grained with a powdery grippy mineral finish. A serious effort!

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

14 Vignerons des Dentelles Dom Venitia 2023

A dark fruited plummy smoky bramble fruited aromatics. The fruits are cool and compact, polished with fine grained tannins and gentle, soft integrated acids with a delicately toasty, brûléed finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

15 Domaine de Durban Vieilles Vignes 2022

Tight dark fruited aromatics. Sleek texture. Beautifully complex and polished.

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

16 Domaine de la Pigeade Hurlevent 2022

A wine with impressive minerality and precision alongside aromatics of limestone, garrigue and spicy black berry. Impressive purity and precision on the palate, a definite winemaking focus and know how that elicits the best of this wine’s terroir. A polished, harmonious style with real minerality.

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

17 Domaine des Garances Jas du Chene 2022, 14.5% Abv. 

50% Grenache and 50% Syrah aged in concrete and stainless steel vats. Exotic aromatics of cherry rock candy, red plum and sour cherry. Follows to a deliciously pure, crystalline palate with sleek silky tannins, glassy fresh crystalline acids and a beautifully harmonious finish with a delicate brûléed tasty twist. Very impressive finesse.

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

18 Domaine Raboly Jean XXII 2022

Deep broody black fruited aromatics showing plum and black berry, musk and potpourri spice. Texture is cool, fleshy and pure, harmonious and balanced with silky tannins, a fleshy black berry core of fruit and a long, chalky finish. Very mineral and seriously classy!

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

19 Domaine Saint Amant Grangeneuve 2022

An intricate aromatics with raspberry and red currant top notes over deeper, broodier black currant and damson plum baritone fruit notes. Full and plush in the mouth, the acids are tangy and the tannins sweet, soft and accessible, finishing with a mellow sweet and sour complexity.

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

20 Earl Saint Roch Cuvee des Sens 2022, 15% Abv.

60% Syrah and 40% Grenache. Smoky meaty savoury aromatics with hints of cherry rock candy, macerated blueberry fruits and musk hints. The palate shows a fleshy depth and concentration, accessible ripeness and generous depth with a long, plush, sweet black fruited finish. Packs a lot of punch and intensity.

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

21 Earl Saint Roch Cuvee des Taus 2022

A delightfully fragrant aromatics boasting violets and potpourri, black cherries, musk and lavender. The fruits are tangy and bright in a red and black berry melange. Polished tight grained marble tannins are supported by a fresh acidity and a generous, harmonious fruit length.

(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

22 Vignerons des Dentelles Confidence 2022

The aromatics show dusty, herby garrigue spice with musk and cinnamon spice. Cool and compact on the palate, the tannins are fine grained, chalky, and soft with a drying mineral finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

23 Gaec de Benquillon Rene 2022

Perfumed aromatics with pink musk, talc, lavender and potpourri. The palate is bright and tangy, the acids crisp and the tannins chalky and mineral. Massive fruit concentration and intensity make this a very impressive wine.

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

24 Famille Soard Domaine de Fenouillet Yvon Soard 2021

Deep dark notes of black cherry, liquorice and black berries. Stony mineral texture with linearity and chalky tannins. A more mineral, classically restrained expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

25 Domaine de Garances Le Pas de L’Aube 2021

75% Syrah and 25% Grenache from a single plot. Complex aromatics of black berry, saline cassis, liquorice and black olive. The texture is cool and tight knit, with polished stony tannins, a chalky minerality and a drying intense finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

26 Domaine Saint Amant Cuvee Nathalie 2020

20% new barriques with up to 8 year old barrels with a 3-4% Viognier portion blended and Co-fermented. Aromatics full of black cherry, kirsch liquor, and salty black liquorice. The black fruits are zippy and vibrant, the texture chalky and mineral with a long, tangy salty finish. Plenty of intensity here.

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

27 Famille Petitjean Felibrige 2020

A more savoury meaty black fruited aromatics with cherry and cured meats. Palate is mineral and taut with stony tannins and a chalky finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

28 Vignerons de Dentelles Trias 2020

Deep broody aromatics boast black cherry, black berries and saline spice. A notable minerality belies the palate with fine grained chalky tannins and a fresh, bright acid finish.

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

Star performers from Domaine Raboly, a young premium micro-site boutique producer.

 

An Iconic South African Sweet Wine Produced by Alheit Vineyards Hits the Market – Tasting the Lost & Found 2019 Hanepoot Dessert Wine…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Most fine wine collectors and afficionados will need no reminding that South Africa has the proven ability to produce some of the most tantalizing and mesmerising dessert wines in the world. Whether it’s a throw back to the golden sweet wine age of the 1800’s or simply a built in cultural sweet tooth, South African winemakers have always excelled with which ever sweet wine style they have put their minds to. Of course the iconic Vin de Constance needs no introduction, but we should not forget the epic Cape Vintage and Cape Tawny Port styles from the Klein Karoo and the Swartland, the delicious Muscadelles and Hanepoot Jerepigos, the botrytised Sauvignon Blancs, Semillons and Rieslings, and more latterly, the incredible Straw Wines made from rack dried Chenin Blanc grapes. We are simply spoilt for choice in South Africa.

A new addition to the Cape’s iconic sweet wine selection.

While the wine industry bathes in the recent big scoring successes of straw wines like the 100-point Olerasay No.2 and No.3 from Mullineux and Leeu Family Wines, I was thrilled to see yet another incredible “certified heritage vineyard” used to produce an ambitiously noteworthy wine from the 2019 vintage. The Gevonden farm near Rawsonville, at the spot where the sheer cliffs of the Du Toitskloof open into the Breedekloof, is the site if a three-century old farmhouse just across the Moolenaars River. Right in front of this old farmhouse is a vineyard considered by many to be the oldest commercially productive parcel of vines in South Africa.

In the Cape, official record keeping of vineyard planting dates only started in 1900, so unfortunately nothing can officially pre-date that year although we know from word of mouth that vines were already in the ground and producing grapes on the Gevonden farm as well as from other famous old vineyards like the Basson Old Vine Cinsault in Wellington, farmed by the Mullineuxs, and the Eselshoek (Hanepoot) Muscat d’Alexandrie vineyard in the Swartland that Eben Sadie used to make delicious sweet wines from bush vines aged over 100 years old. According to the De Wet / Boonzaaier family history, the Gevonden Hanepoot vines were planted by one Jacobus Hendrik Stofberg De Wet in 1882 just after the first Anglo-Boer War from 1881-1882.

The gnarly old Hanepoot vines planted in circa 1882.

As has been the case for many of these newly discovered “old vineyards”, Chris Alheit came to know about this special heritage block through the ongoing work of Old Vine Project founder Rosa Kruger, who introduced Chris to farmer Neels Boonzaaier in late 2010. After several frustrated failed attempts to create something special, the sweet wine project was abandoned until a chance meeting with Neels’s son Janus in 2017 led to Chris Alheit giving the sweet wine project another bash. In 2019, the vineyard yielded what Chris considered was a large enough quantity of fully ripe grapes to attempt the rack drying process to concentrate the sugars.

The Resulting raisins were pressed for five days yielding juice with a sugar concentration of around 55 Brix. This juice was then fermented for 12 months, reaching just over 7% alcohol with a residual sugar of around 450 g/l. But the story does not end there. The 2019 vintage was also sadly the last vintage that the De Wet / Boonzaaier family, who owned the Gevonden farm for six generations, farmed this famous Hanepoot block and so Chris does not expect to be able to source fruit again. So perhaps the label should read, Lost & Found & Lost Again?

Alheit Vineyards Lost & Found 2019, WO Breedekloof, 7% Abv.

Looking at this rich, unctuous wine in the glass is akin to gazing through an ancient piece of Jurassic fossilized amber – ripe, captivating and most definitely warmly inviting. But this is no normal sweet wine and one sniff of the rich, ripe, potent aromatics reveals an enchanting bouquet of freshly boiled marmalade jam, green mango preserve, barley sugar, sweet herbs, wet straw and dried apricots. Give the dense, glycerol wine another slow swirl in a big Zalto Bordeaux bowl and it shifts gears again to offer yet more pithy orange peel nuances and seductive notes of quince jelly, pressed grapes and burnt caramel. Like some of South Africa’s other truly great sweet wines, the aromatics are so complex and seductive that you almost forget to sip the wine! Incredibly viscous and fleshy on the palate with a round glycerol opulence, there is no suggestion at any point that this wine is going to be overly sweet and clawing with its 450 g/l RS. In fact the sweetness is kept smartly in check by a searing acidity that scythes through the caramel and barley sugar laden fruit layers with samurai sword precision. The finish is gloriously mouth coating, hedonistic and persistent with just the most subtle sappy, pithy, bitter orange peel vermouth twang. An incredible vinous expression that represents an unbelievable journey of not only all those who have farmed this block over the decades, but also of the vines themself. A fine wine that will undoubtedly endure and out live most us who are tasting it now. Some of the most desirable decadence available in a bottle.

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

Perseverance Prevails – Klein Constantia Unveils Their New Vin de Constance 2019 Release in London…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Welcoming Klein Constantia’s winemaker Matt Day back to London after several years of pandemic imposed isolation in the Cape presented the perfect opportunity to unveil the new 2019 Vin de Constance – a wine which I believe represents the culmination of the past 10 years experimentation, innovation and tweaking to create something that reaches new quality heights. Coming from a very long and late harvest, the wine sees a move away from long 6 to 12 month ferments to a quicker, more precise 1 to 3 month fermentation.

The spring of 2018 was cold, wet and windier than usual, which impacted flowering and resulted in smaller berries and a reduced crop. Cooler conditions throughout the growing season meant that ripening was slower than normal, and pushed back the harvest. The late harvest and unpredictable autumn weather conditions forced Klein Constantia’s vineyard team to be reactive and disciplined with their assessment of perfect ripeness.

The 2019 harvest was short, taking place from late February until the end of March in warm and dry conditions that alleviated the risk of disease. In total, 26 separate different passes were made through the vineyards, collecting grapes turning from high acidity to more intense sugar levels with every passage, each being vinified separately. The different lots were aged for 18 months in 50% new French and Hungarian oak barrels, followed by a further 18 months in large foudres before blending and bottling.

Winemaker Matt Day presenting the new Vin de Constance 2019 in London.

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2019, WO Constantia Valley, 13.9% Abv.

166g/l RS | 6.1g/l TA | 3.71pH

The 2019 displays an incredibly opulent, powerful aromatic profile brimming full of grapefruit preserve, lychees, white peaches, green melon confit and melted honey on warm white toast. What purity and precision! The wine sticks perfectly to the estate’s mission statement trying to make a sweet wine that tastes not particularly sweet regardless of its actual 166 g/l RS. This is achieved through an incredible balance and harmony with a palate texture showing a sublime equilibrium between acid, alcohol and fruit intensity. Beautifully complex and layered with hints of peach iced tea, pink musk, pear purée, quince jelly and candied citrus bon bons. Very classy indeed and undoubtedly one of the best modern vintages to be made at the estate. Drink now and over the next 30+ years.

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

To add extra perspective on the quality of the 2019, Matt Day showed a range of older Vin de Constance vintages including the 2016, the 2012, the 2004 and the rare 1991.

Tasting Vin de Constance 2015 at the London Launch – Moving Greatness to the Next Level…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

For the past 8 years, Matt Day has come to London to launch the new vintages of Vin de Constance, one of the greatest sweet wines in existence. Usually there is a formula of showing a few older rare vintages before revealing the newest release. But after Matt pulled barrel samples 6 months ago from multiple component parts of the 2015 blend… and recently discovered the bottles in the lab, he thought it would be the perfect way to introduce one of the finest expressions of Vin de Constance to date… by showing a deconstructed version with multiple component parts.

This is a wine that needs no introduction, and as Matt pointed out, we all know about the famous historical dignitaries that have consumed this delicious sweet wine over the years. But more important to him and the estate owners now is making great wines that represent their terroir to the fullest and represent the vision of where Vin de Constance is going in the future.

As if there was any need for further compliments, it was the great Steven Spurrier who proclaimed at the tasting that “the 2015 Vin de Constance was every bit as impressive as the 2016 Chateau d’Yquem”… where Matt actually worked a harvest two years ago.

For me, this wine shows a focus, a precision and a clarity of purpose not seen on any recent vintages of Vin de Constance. If you want Chateau d’Yquem buyers to buy your wine, this is what they are going to have to taste like! Bravo Matt!

Component Tasting:

Component I6 – Precision

Wonderfully perfumed and fresh, orange blossom, marmalade on white toast, crushed grapefruit and barley sugar. Very fragrant, pure and precise. Quite full and unctuous on the palate, massive mouth coating depth, creamy and powerful with impressive purity of fruit.

Component I7 – Flesh

Quite neutral, mineral and restrained aromatics, showing more a leafy, sappy, resinous side of Muscat with subtle orange and tangerine peel spice. Texturally full, fleshy and harmonious with a wonderfully plush lemon cream biscuit core of yellow orchard fruits. Soft acids, dreamy harmonious balance.

Component I8 – Harmony

Containing a small part of 2016 Vin de Constance, this wine shows aromatics of an almost more complete wine with fine balance between fruit and sappy resinous notes, minerality and wood spice. Palate is slightly fresher and more ‘teenager gawky’ than the others with plenty of power and depth but unlike the nose, the palate feels much more incomplete and more like a blend component.

MDF Green 2018 Component – Frame

Harvested green end of January 2018. Lean spicy and green with stalky sappy notes, peppered green figs, white pepper, grapefruit confit and waxy green apples. Wine is bone dry, less than 2 g/l RS. Sleek, fresh, very juicy. Could certainly be bottled as a hipster still wine but going to be a perfect component of a blend. Delicious backbone and freshness.

Component Essencia 2015 – Richness

A whopping of 655 g/l RS in the component with next to no alcohol. Fantastically rich and opulent, hedonistic notes of orange marmalade, grapefruit preserve and caramelised hairy yellow peaches. Palate texture is dense with a treacly weight, tasting it akin to sucking on a big teaspoon of honey. An important component piece in the Vin de Constance blend.

Vin de Constance 2012, WO Constantia, 14.3 Abv.

Matt Day’s first vintage in charge of winemaking after taking over from the phenomenal talent of Adam Mason. So no pressure! The RS is 160 g/l, pH 3.6, TA 7 g/l with the wine aged for 2.5 years in a combination of 60% new French oak, Hungarian oak and French acacia before racking out, blending and ageing for a further 6 months in tank before bottling. Aromatics show crystalline white peaches, yellow citrus, orange blossom and subtle tangerine peel spice. Palate is so sleek and taut with an appealing salinity and spicy marmalade, fleshy texture and an intensity that lingers long in the mouth. An exceptional maiden vintage for Matt.

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

Vin de Constance 2015, WO Constantia, 14 Abv.

Very pure crystalline and fragrant nose with a really complex aromatic profile seamlessly knitted together. Beautiful peppered white peaches, honey suckle, yellow grapefruit, pear purée, barley sugar and a most enchanting under vein of chalky minerality. The palate is crystalline and pure, taut and polished with absolute harmony and balance. The incredible blending precision delivers an amazing texture, impressive tension, mid palate restraint and a finished wine that is perfectly proportion and finely chiselled and near faultless. A very grown up Vin de Constance that flirts with lightness, freshness and elegance.

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

Another Iconic Vin de Constance Release from Klein Constantia – Tasting the 2014…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The 2014 Vin de Constance release sees Klein Constantia winemaker Matt Day deliver a superbly confident display of vinous sweet wine alchemy, conjuring up an impressively fine and balanced rendition of this iconic sweet Muscat dessert wine. Fill your cellars with this vinous gold!

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2014, WO Constantia, 14.2 Abv.

172 g/L RS, matured in 500 litre barrels for around 36 months, the 2014 displays a wonderfully aromatic nose of white blossom, honeysuckle, quince confit and freshly baked brioche smothered in honey and yellow grapefruit marmalade. The 2014 is wonderfully approachable showing a finely poised balance of creamy yellow orchard fruits and superbly elegant integrated acids. The finish is focused and pure, concentrated and beautifully textural, finishing with a delicious melange of orange peel, ginger pastille sweets and caramelised apples dusted with vanilla pod spice. This is a really distinguished expression that shows the winemaker’s growing confidence to be able to deliver an iconic expression of Vin de Constance year after year. Drink from 2019 to 2045+

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

Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance – Still the King of South African Sweet Wines…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

Vin de Constance as we all know was drunk by Napoleon in exile and helped sooth lovers’ broken hearts in Charlotte Bronte novels but more significantly, was regarded as one of the most desirable sweet wines in the world often selling for higher prices than Bordeaux’s grandest red wines.

Now days, the winery employs the services of one of the most talented young winemakers in South Africa, Matt Day, who has whole heartedly embraced the quality vision promoted by the new(ish) owners, to make Vin de Constance one of the most desirable sweet wines in the world once again.

It’s actually not too often one gets to drink the older vintages now days but when they do pop up at lunches or dinners, they are always a truly wonderful vinous treat. I recently had the pleasure of enjoying the 21 year old 1997 Vin de Constance at lunch and it was every bit as riveting as expected. My advise is not to neglect this style when purchasing wines to cellar as they will certainly reward patience and appreciate in value.

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 1997, WO Constantia, 14.5 Abv.

Dark golden molasses brown with orange brick rim, this wine is super expressive, complex and intricate showing tertiary aromas of brown sugar, brûléed oranges, barley sugar, honeyed nuts and molasses hints. A subtle toffee apple and burnt sugar opulence underpins the palate which is wonderfully multidimensional, layered with caramelised orange peel, sweet peach ice tea and piquant Seville orange marmalade nuances. Incredible intensity, a regal sugar / acid balance and a superbly focused depth. A really awesome sweet wine expression. Drink now or bury in your cellar for another decade or two.

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

With Klein Constantia Winemaker Matt Day in London recently.

New Wines and New Horizons – Tasting Christelle Guibert’s Tierra del Itata Muscat Orange Wine 2016…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

I have been very fortunate to have shared a friendship with Christelle Guibert for almost two decades. Her sterling work at Decanter Magazine and at the Decanter World Wine Awards as Tasting Director has helped elevate these two entities for many years. Christelle recently announced that she will be moving on to newer, greener pastures just over the proverbial bridge. I just hope her new travails and new role allow her time to continue with her secret double life as a vigneron / winemaker.

Indeed, few outside the wine trade know that Loire originating Christelle owns, grows and makes fabulous white wines in Muscadet under her Vine Revival Terre de Gneiss label with the help of vigneron Vincent Caille. The vines are situated in the village of Monnieres, where the fruit is vinified using biodynamic principles, hand harvested and fermented in an egg. But there is none this year due to adverse weather conditions so Christelle has moved her attentions temporarily to producing a fabulous Muscat orange wine made from 150 year old vines in the Itata Valley in Chile. With the valuable assistance of Leo Erazo, 2000 bottles of the maiden 2016 vintage were produced.

This is a unique, delicious, characterful wine that reminds me of some of the finest natural style skin contact white wines made from Zebbibo (Muscat) in northern Italy. The grapes are organicly grown in bush vines on steep granitic hill side vineyards and are ungrafted and dry-farmed. The wine spent 42 days on its skins in concrete spherical shaped tanks. Only natural yeasts were employed and the wine was bottled bone dry, unfiltered. Stylistically, I would even go as far as to say this is one of the best dry orange wine Muscats I have ever tasted. Track this rare unicorn down quickly before it’s all gone. 🇫🇷 🍷 🇨🇱

Christelle Guibert Tierra del Itata Muscat Orange Wine 2016, 13 Abv. Chile

Seductive dark yellow straw colour, there is a slight haze to remind you of this wine’s natural, minimalist winemaking aspirations. Raised in a concrete sphere, the nose is reminiscent of the most seductive Zebbibo wines, positively overflowing with sweet quince, rose water, lychees, barley sugar, Thai basil, marzipan and pithy new season bitter marmalade on buttered brown toast. The amazing depth and complexity follows to the palate that is full bodied, intensely concentrated, superbly fresh with a vibrant acidity and a piquant, sweet / sour peachy depth. The key to this wine remains its mouth watering freshness allied to its pithy, bone dry liquid mineral finish. Once again, this is a triumph of old vine fruit intensity and passionate artisanal winemaking. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.

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