Western Cape

This impressive Black Series Cap Classique uses Pinot Noir grapes harvested from the Elgin region and Chardonnay from the cool Agulhas region. Elgin has a wonderfully cool climate where the vines grow in sandstone soils laced with silica quartz fragments and acidic Bokkeveld shales rich in iron.

The Chardonnay is grown on Quoin Rock’s Boskloof farm on Koffieklip and gravel soils where the vines are also exposed to the cooling influences of the Atlantic Ocean air ensuring that the berries ripen evenly while retaining a vibrant natural acidity. The grapes were harvested from different sections of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blocks at different times before being transported to the vinification cellar located in Stellenbosch.

Made from a final blend of 54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir that was all harvested in February 2017, vinified and then aged on its lees for 5 years. The wine was bottled on the 23rd of September 2022, and while the 2018 release is also currently on sale, this pretty 2017 MCC is still available cellar door for R900 per bottle (£38pb).

Quoin Rock Black Series Cap Classique 2017, WO Western Cape, 12.91% Abv.

8.7g/l RS | 8.0g/l TA | 3.05pH

A bright shimmering bronze gold, the aromatics are striking, packed full of lemon and lime peel, salty brine, salted pistachios, honey brittle candy before savoury, leesy, brioche nuances develop in the glass. The palate steals the show with a density, intensity, and superb freshness combined with a harmonious balancing pear and white citrus length, carried with purity and precision on a piercing, creamy moussed finish. This really is a classy Cap Classique wine that can challenge some of the best premium Champagne cuvées out there. Drink now and over the next 5 to 8+ years.

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

http://www.quoinrock.co.za

One thing having large vineyard holdings affords you is fruit selection. The Schalk Burger & Sons Welbedacht farm in Wellington in the Western Cape is a classic example of this. I’ve always enjoyed the premium wines of Schalk Burger Snr, especially the Cricket Pitch red blend and the Bohemian Syrah. But tasting today with Schalk Burger Snr and his UK shipper, it was the modest £9.99 Meerkat Burrow Blend 2015 that came up trumps.

Other than Schalk fulfilling his long term ambition to include the word “Gregarious” on the front label, he has also succeeded in creating an exceptionally delicious, quality focused, unpretentious red.

I can often be heard complaining that South Africa does not have quite enough value reds of high quality that are suitably priced or positioned for independent merchants. But this is a very impressive creation that ticks so many boxes and keeps you coming back for another sip, and another!

Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat Burrow Red Blend 2015, Wellington, 14.5 Abv.

The nose is seductively wild, with black forest berries, oodles of bramble berry spice, black currant compote, and a sweet, cedary, vanilla pod dusting. Key to the palate is its light weight opulence, succulent texture, fleshy breadth and a juicy long mulberry fruited finish. I can’t remember what grapes go into this blend, and I suspect it changes every year anyway, but the 2015 is thoroughly delicious and impressively well made. For me, 10/10 in the drinkability stakes, this is a perfect BBQ red that will add much cheer and enjoyment to any social occasion.

(Wine Safari Score: 88+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)