61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. From an excellent vintage this has all the makings of a great Rubicon. Already enjoyable but this will certainly last and improve for at least a decade.
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Great QPR for a SA Bordeaux style blend. Daily drinker. I had rated it higher previously as the fruit and tanins have faded but it’s also softer and more delicate now.
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Tasting Meerlust wines with Wim Truter (Tryffelsvinet, Blasieholmen): My favourite of the line we tried. Lovely rich nose with extra everything and lots of ripe fruit, dark chocolate notes, but it also has a really well balanced palate and nice finish. Drink now or cellar for another 10 years. Very much showing the high pedigree (if warm and ripe fruited wines) of the South Africa 2015 vintage. Highly Recommended (if you can find it).
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Expressive and complex on the nose. Floral notes, herbs, green bell pepper, menthol, red fruit, hints of black tea. On the palate well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins. Again red fruit. Bright and vibrant towards the finish. Fine length. Drink or keep. 92-94
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La Meat Maison Wine Fair (Papillon Bistrot): Sampled from magnum bottle Big in the nose, spicy, oaky, heady, ripe black fruit, cherries, cigar box, tobacco, very welcoming, earthy Big in the palate too, very fresh with ripe black fruit, cherry, currant, spice, thin oak frame, alcohol heat, medium tannins, medium finish
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Meritage blend blind tasting with buddies, wine #4. One of the finest producers in Stellenbosch established at 1756, produced this lovely blend of 61% CS, 23% Merlot, 12% CF, and 4% PV. Deep garnet red. Medium intensity aroma of cherries, cassis, earth, tobacco, toasted oak, leather, spices, plum hints. Medium body, opulent and concentrated, showing exemplary structure lifted by fresh and bright acidity, medium density, sandy smooth tannins, velvety finish.
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Deep ruby to purple edge, the nose fills with classic blackcurrant, cassis, vanilla smear and oak spices. As it opens, fenugreek, acacia, woodsmoke and cassia root is introduced. Medium to full-bodied, the entry is dominated by dark fruits with plenty of sweet vanilla spice, blackcurrant cordial and Ribena. Fine powdery tannins with a sweet vanilla ice cream texture and dark 70% Lindt chocolate. Very approachable, there is w aft of herb, even pencil lead that adds to the complexity. Long in length, soft, lively acid all well balanced, the finish builds to a more drying cocoa powder feel, but all reflect the seamlessness of the 2015 tannins structure. Remarkable elegance emerges as the wine opens up. Needs further time to add more complexity.
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, plums, berries and boysenberries. Flavors of tangy raspberries, black berries and black boysenberries. Medium to tart acidity, medium to firm tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink over the short to medium term.
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My last bottle of the 6 I bought, and probably the best. Opened at 4pm, tasted at 8pm, half drunk with cote de boeuf, the rest savoured on its own. Concentrated, juicy with blackcurrrant, smoky and savoury, with long smooth polished tannins on the finish. Oak is well judged and far from overdone, contra other comments, IMO; this is not in cheap California caramel vanilla territory, and nor is it oaky juice like so many NZ pinots.
This was excellent value from Costco when originally bought, in the territory of £25 or less. Can't get it for less than £49 now.
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This deep ruby blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot was splash-decanted and serially tasted over the ensuing 3-4 hours. Not revealing much within the first hour, it opens thereafter to deliver an attractive package of red currants, Montmorency cherries, graphite and pickling spice on both the nose and palate. Full-bodied, freshly acidic and with unobtrusive alcohol (listed as 14.0%), it stays solid in the middle, adding a distinct green element in a milieu of grainy tannins. This wine was aged for 18 months in French oak (66% new), which manifests as a prominent woodiness that is pervasive from attack through medium-length finish. Lacking charm, I suspect that it will not significantly improve with additional cellar time. Drink now-2025.
Deep red garnet in color. Black currents coffee, cocoa, and a hint of oak. Nice dark fruits, plums and blackberries on a smooth approach and a medium to long finish. Very Bordeaux like blend. Excellent.
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30+ minute decant and could have used more. Dark fruit and Bordeaux elements on the nose. First few glasses (I’m a fan of small pours) were overly spicy, which was unattractive. With air and time it dissipated and a silky texture emerged with plums, oak, and ever so slight vanilla. No mistaking this for anything but South African. Medium plus depth. Medium plus finish. Not my style, and the early spice turned me off, but this grew on me. However, I don’t think it has very much aging potential. Glad I tried this for the price. Wouldn’t turn a glass down but probably not a return buyer.
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Deep ruby. Direct aromas of ripe blackcurrants, fresh herb (lemon mint), sweet spice, vanilla and smoke. In the background is milk chocolate and pencil lead. Medium-bodied, there is a distinct acidity on entry with a powdery texture and linear palate shape. Spices, black olive and dried blackcurrant join cassis and creamy dark (55%) chocolate. Whilst the wine is complex, it feels a bit lightweight, lacking the grunt that I would expect from 2015. The tannins are seamless and fine-grained, but the wine lacks a bit of stuffing. Despite this, it has character and, as a lighter structured Cabernet will drink nicely over the next 5-8 years.
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Young Bordeaux style from a trusted South African vintner. Loved this wine when we first tried an older vintage about 5 years ago ay a French restaurant.
Without the label you’d think it’s a fine left bank offering, it’s got some pop to it but believe that will likely smooth out. The approach is simply delightful although it’s youth comes through in the finish.
Will likely wait and would set a drink date somewhere between 2022-2030+ have seen others suggest this is likely the best Rubicon in decades so with this QPR I grabbed a couple of cases.
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Merlot (23%), Cabernet Franc (12%) and Petit Verdot (4%). According to the winery, this was aged in new (66%) and used (44%) 300-liter oak barrels. That's 110% oak for you. 14% alcohol, 3,4 g/l residual sugar, 5,6 g/l acidity and pH 3,66.
Deep, dark and completely opaque blackish-red color. Very ripe, sweet-toned and toasty nose with bold aromas of juicy blackcurrants, coffee oak, some cooked bell pepper, a little bit of mocha latte, light plummy tones and a hint of cocoa. The wine is full-bodied, extracted and chewy on the palate with concentrated flavors of ripe blackcurrants, bittersweet dark chocolate tones and extracted woody bitterness, some plummy tones, a little bit of blackberry jam, light notes of cocoa oak, a hint of toasty mocha oak and a sweet touch of cooked bell pepper. The overall feel is quite firm and structured, thanks to the moderately high acidity and somewhat grippy medium-plus tannins. The powerful finish is somewhat grippy, a little bit warm and quite long with polished, toasty flavors of sweet blackcurrants and ripe dark plums, some mocha oak, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, light notes of jammy red fruits and a hint of coffee grounds.
A rather robust and impressively big blockbuster wine that just feels way too modern, polished and heavily oaked for my taste. With noticeably less oak influence this could've been a rather impressive powerhouse of a wine, sporting very firm structure and bold, concentrated fruit, but now when a huge majority of descriptors in my tasting note are of different oak qualities, I find it hard to think of this as wine as much as an attempt to create liquid oak extract. Although I'd question the math skills of the people who wrote the tech specs of the wine, it nevertheless feels like this wine has seen 100% oak. Most likely this wine will improve in a cellar as it feels like it is built to age and most likely some of the oak will integrate with the fruit in due time, but I heavily doubt any amount of aging can integrate this much oak before the wine falls to pieces. Not my cup of tea, but if you happen to enjoy modern, heavily oaked blockbuster reds, feel free to add 5-6 extra points to my score.
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This was a good bottle. There is definitely variation between bottles. This one was quite smoky verging on ashy, the cabernets having some influence, especially the cab franc. For a Bordeaux style blend, the oak isn't really on cedar territory, but it is perfumed, and I think it has softened with age, which is good - a previous bottle came through too strong.
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The nose is cedar and sour cherry. After a 1 hour decant the wine had a high amount of acid on the palate with sour cherry, thin body, and some tannins. I am not a fan, sorry!
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Like a young Bordeaux, well balanced, showed well on opening with slightly sour cherry taste, improved greatly after three hours in the decanter, bright fruit and leather with a long finish. Very enjoyable and excellent with a striploin, my guess is that this has many years ahead of it to develop more fully.
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of blueberries, white pepper, plums and cassis. Flavors of cassis, plum and boysenberry. Medium acidity, medium tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink over the short to perhaps medium term.
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Dark fruit, herbs tobacco some cedar on the nose. Has good acidity and balance lots of dark fruits good use of oak, grippy tannins. Still juvenile, this will definitely improve with time. 92+.
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Dark purple/brown hue, light nose. First taste is immediately both tangy and earthy - oak, ash, a bit of tobacco. Surprising complexity into a quick finish, continued earthy barnyard medium linger.
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Still wine of the best wines (Meerlust) I have had and for sure if you take price into consideration. This one is still fresh and I think it has a number of years still to go.
Decanted for 1 hour then poured. Tasted blind. Clear, medium/deep ruby. On the nose, this had blackcurrant, blackberry, (somewhat medicinal) herbs, earth, oak, green leaf, stems. Hints of green pepper and coffee. On the palate, high acidity, full body, medium+ flavour intensity, medium+ grippy tannins, and a long finish. A fresh and elegant profile, although the bitter herbal notes are rather dominant at this point. Strong fruit depth and I get the sense this should be better in half a dozen years' time. Bordeaux-style. Very good QPR.
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This Bordeaux style blend should silence all those criticizing the New World wines for lack of sophistication. Immensely dark, plummy, medium bodied with a nice balance of fruit, tannins and oak. Notes of leather and licorice are already present. Should age well for decades.
This wine really shows those schoolbook Stellenbosch Bdx-blend characteristics; ripe black fruit, grilled green bell pepper, bonfire smoke and a great dose of oak. There's also some moist soil, cedar wood and black currant leaves to be found.
Full bodied, ripe and concentrated on the palate but it definitely holds the structure to balance that generous fruit. Even though the intensity to the fruit is really good it is a bit overshadowed by the oak today. Long lingering finish.
A great example of old school Stellenbosch Bdx-blend that has stuffing enough to age. Give this 5-10 years and this will turn out nice. For my taste this style of wine is kind of hard to get excited about.
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This bottle much more impressive than my last one. Had with beef, opened 3 hours before. Black fruit, cedar, smoke, vanilla, mild long-lasting tannins. Very smooth. Definitely needs a good few hours to open up.
Expressive Bordeaux blend, with an enticing sweetness and aromatic complexity. Inviting nose of mature cassis, ink, graphite and cedar. Medium to full bodied, intense, with ripe cassis, blackberries, leather, oak, roast aromas, tofee, nuts, and a long, rewarding finish.
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Decent cheap Bordeaux blend. Fruity acid (but not harsh) with pronounced woody flavours, cedar more than oak. Very mild tannins. Somewhat lactic nose. Fairly short. Tasty, would be decent with food, not sure I'd trust it with beef, but something a bit lighter, sure. Vague fruit, not cassis. A little bit sour as it gains more air.
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Concentrated Bordeaux style, excellent balance and approachable now. Distinct leather and cedar notes. Lack some finess on palate to merit better ratings.
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Young but quite welcoming, softer, silky tannin but not a simple wine. Walks the fine line between quality and depth of flavor but also early approach ability without being too obvious. Good wine solid 89-90
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South African wine tour - Day five (Stellenbosch): Ooh, a little more subdued than I expected, muted blackcurrant, plum, a little burnt toast and cedar On the palate it's a little fruit sweet initially, quite soft, tannins are present but hand in hand with the fruit. Interesting, grows on me with time. There is a little red fruit note as well.
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12/15/2023 - finewinebuff57 wrote: 90 Points
61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. From an excellent vintage this has all the makings of a great Rubicon. Already enjoyable but this will certainly last and improve for at least a decade.
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11/18/2023 - Rossdhu House Likes this wine: 90 Points
Great QPR for a SA Bordeaux style blend. Daily drinker. I had rated it higher previously as the fruit and tanins have faded but it’s also softer and more delicate now.
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8/26/2023 - Omar Khayyam wrote:
Tasting Meerlust wines with Wim Truter (Tryffelsvinet, Blasieholmen): My favourite of the line we tried. Lovely rich nose with extra everything and lots of ripe fruit, dark chocolate notes, but it also has a really well balanced palate and nice finish. Drink now or cellar for another 10 years. Very much showing the high pedigree (if warm and ripe fruited wines) of the South Africa 2015 vintage. Highly Recommended (if you can find it).
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12/16/2022 - rossi.wine wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with previous note. 91-93
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7/22/2022 - rossi.wine wrote: 93 Points
Expressive and complex on the nose. Floral notes, herbs, green bell pepper, menthol, red fruit, hints of black tea. On the palate well-balanced with good acidity, ripe tannins. Again red fruit. Bright and vibrant towards the finish. Fine length. Drink or keep. 92-94
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2/25/2022 - King_Arthur wrote: 89 Points
Green pepper is dominating the nose, so gives a feeling as if grapes where unripe. Else quite full bodied, with medium acidity and tannins.
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2/17/2022 - kostaslonis wrote:
La Meat Maison Wine Fair (Papillon Bistrot): Sampled from magnum bottle
Big in the nose, spicy, oaky, heady, ripe black fruit, cherries, cigar box, tobacco, very welcoming, earthy
Big in the palate too, very fresh with ripe black fruit, cherry, currant, spice, thin oak frame, alcohol heat, medium tannins, medium finish
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12/31/2021 - Lyndon.king Likes this wine: 94 Points
As expected exceptional wine. Full bodied yet wonderfully smooth, was ready to drink
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12/10/2021 - Ernestas Likes this wine: 91 Points
Meritage blend blind tasting with buddies, wine #4. One of the finest producers in Stellenbosch established at 1756, produced this lovely blend of 61% CS, 23% Merlot, 12% CF, and 4% PV. Deep garnet red. Medium intensity aroma of cherries, cassis, earth, tobacco, toasted oak, leather, spices, plum hints. Medium body, opulent and concentrated, showing exemplary structure lifted by fresh and bright acidity, medium density, sandy smooth tannins, velvety finish.
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7/12/2021 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep ruby to purple edge, the nose fills with classic blackcurrant, cassis, vanilla smear and oak spices.
As it opens, fenugreek, acacia, woodsmoke and cassia root is introduced.
Medium to full-bodied, the entry is dominated by dark fruits with plenty of sweet vanilla spice, blackcurrant cordial and Ribena. Fine powdery tannins with a sweet vanilla ice cream texture and dark 70% Lindt chocolate.
Very approachable, there is w aft of herb, even pencil lead that adds to the complexity. Long in length, soft, lively acid all well balanced, the finish builds to a more drying cocoa powder feel, but all reflect the seamlessness of the 2015 tannins structure. Remarkable elegance emerges as the wine opens up. Needs further time to add more complexity.
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4/16/2021 - wineismylife wrote: 90 Points
WIML90
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, plums, berries and boysenberries. Flavors of tangy raspberries, black berries and black boysenberries. Medium to tart acidity, medium to firm tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink over the short to medium term.
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2/25/2021 - barrkel Likes this wine: 92 Points
My last bottle of the 6 I bought, and probably the best. Opened at 4pm, tasted at 8pm, half drunk with cote de boeuf, the rest savoured on its own. Concentrated, juicy with blackcurrrant, smoky and savoury, with long smooth polished tannins on the finish. Oak is well judged and far from overdone, contra other comments, IMO; this is not in cheap California caramel vanilla territory, and nor is it oaky juice like so many NZ pinots.
This was excellent value from Costco when originally bought, in the territory of £25 or less. Can't get it for less than £49 now.
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1/10/2021 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 86 Points
This deep ruby blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot was splash-decanted and serially tasted over the ensuing 3-4 hours. Not revealing much within the first hour, it opens thereafter to deliver an attractive package of red currants, Montmorency cherries, graphite and pickling spice on both the nose and palate. Full-bodied, freshly acidic and with unobtrusive alcohol (listed as 14.0%), it stays solid in the middle, adding a distinct green element in a milieu of grainy tannins. This wine was aged for 18 months in French oak (66% new), which manifests as a prominent woodiness that is pervasive from attack through medium-length finish. Lacking charm, I suspect that it will not significantly improve with additional cellar time. Drink now-2025.
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12/26/2020 - rsct2001 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Deep red garnet in color. Black currents coffee, cocoa, and a hint of oak. Nice dark fruits, plums and blackberries on a smooth approach and a medium to long finish. Very Bordeaux like blend. Excellent.
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12/22/2020 - PMJak11 wrote: 91 Points
30+ minute decant and could have used more. Dark fruit and Bordeaux elements on the nose. First few glasses (I’m a fan of small pours) were overly spicy, which was unattractive. With air and time it dissipated and a silky texture emerged with plums, oak, and ever so slight vanilla. No mistaking this for anything but South African. Medium plus depth. Medium plus finish. Not my style, and the early spice turned me off, but this grew on me. However, I don’t think it has very much aging potential. Glad I tried this for the price. Wouldn’t turn a glass down but probably not a return buyer.
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11/15/2020 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep ruby.
Direct aromas of ripe blackcurrants, fresh herb (lemon mint), sweet spice, vanilla and smoke. In the background is milk chocolate and pencil lead.
Medium-bodied, there is a distinct acidity on entry with a powdery texture and linear palate shape. Spices, black olive and dried blackcurrant join cassis and creamy dark (55%) chocolate. Whilst the wine is complex, it feels a bit lightweight, lacking the grunt that I would expect from 2015. The tannins are seamless and fine-grained, but the wine lacks a bit of stuffing. Despite this, it has character and, as a lighter structured Cabernet will drink nicely over the next 5-8 years.
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10/27/2020 - barrkel wrote: 91 Points
Tasty, smoky, savoury. Didn't need hours of air, but it did take warming up. I think the early bottles were just opened too soon.
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9/26/2020 - Rossdhu House Likes this wine: 92 Points
Amazing wine drinking quite well now.
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9/19/2020 - Rossdhu House Likes this wine: 95 Points
Young Bordeaux style from a trusted South African vintner. Loved this wine when we first tried an older vintage about 5 years ago ay a French restaurant.
Without the label you’d think it’s a fine left bank offering, it’s got some pop to it but believe that will likely smooth out. The approach is simply delightful although it’s youth comes through in the finish.
Will likely wait and would set a drink date somewhere between 2022-2030+ have seen others suggest this is likely the best Rubicon in decades so with this QPR I grabbed a couple of cases.
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8/4/2020 - forceberry wrote: 86 Points
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Merlot (23%), Cabernet Franc (12%) and Petit Verdot (4%). According to the winery, this was aged in new (66%) and used (44%) 300-liter oak barrels. That's 110% oak for you. 14% alcohol, 3,4 g/l residual sugar, 5,6 g/l acidity and pH 3,66.
Deep, dark and completely opaque blackish-red color. Very ripe, sweet-toned and toasty nose with bold aromas of juicy blackcurrants, coffee oak, some cooked bell pepper, a little bit of mocha latte, light plummy tones and a hint of cocoa. The wine is full-bodied, extracted and chewy on the palate with concentrated flavors of ripe blackcurrants, bittersweet dark chocolate tones and extracted woody bitterness, some plummy tones, a little bit of blackberry jam, light notes of cocoa oak, a hint of toasty mocha oak and a sweet touch of cooked bell pepper. The overall feel is quite firm and structured, thanks to the moderately high acidity and somewhat grippy medium-plus tannins. The powerful finish is somewhat grippy, a little bit warm and quite long with polished, toasty flavors of sweet blackcurrants and ripe dark plums, some mocha oak, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, light notes of jammy red fruits and a hint of coffee grounds.
A rather robust and impressively big blockbuster wine that just feels way too modern, polished and heavily oaked for my taste. With noticeably less oak influence this could've been a rather impressive powerhouse of a wine, sporting very firm structure and bold, concentrated fruit, but now when a huge majority of descriptors in my tasting note are of different oak qualities, I find it hard to think of this as wine as much as an attempt to create liquid oak extract. Although I'd question the math skills of the people who wrote the tech specs of the wine, it nevertheless feels like this wine has seen 100% oak. Most likely this wine will improve in a cellar as it feels like it is built to age and most likely some of the oak will integrate with the fruit in due time, but I heavily doubt any amount of aging can integrate this much oak before the wine falls to pieces. Not my cup of tea, but if you happen to enjoy modern, heavily oaked blockbuster reds, feel free to add 5-6 extra points to my score.
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6/21/2020 - barrkel Likes this wine: 90 Points
This was a good bottle. There is definitely variation between bottles. This one was quite smoky verging on ashy, the cabernets having some influence, especially the cab franc. For a Bordeaux style blend, the oak isn't really on cedar territory, but it is perfumed, and I think it has softened with age, which is good - a previous bottle came through too strong.
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6/19/2020 - aerosol wrote: 86 Points
The nose is cedar and sour cherry. After a 1 hour decant the wine had a high amount of acid on the palate with sour cherry, thin body, and some tannins. I am not a fan, sorry!
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6/1/2020 - DannyB1991 Likes this wine:
Like a young Bordeaux, well balanced, showed well on opening with slightly sour cherry taste, improved greatly after three hours in the decanter, bright fruit and leather with a long finish. Very enjoyable and excellent with a striploin, my guess is that this has many years ahead of it to develop more fully.
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3/26/2020 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
WIML92
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of blueberries, white pepper, plums and cassis. Flavors of cassis, plum and boysenberry. Medium acidity, medium tannin, medium to full bodied. Drink over the short to perhaps medium term.
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3/3/2020 - brucer1 wrote:
Not really impressed. Was better after being open for the night.
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2/22/2020 - Gob wrote: 92 Points
Dark fruit, herbs tobacco some cedar on the nose. Has good acidity and balance lots of dark fruits good use of oak, grippy tannins. Still juvenile, this will definitely improve with time. 92+.
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12/10/2019 - ShangGuy Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark purple/brown hue, light nose. First taste is immediately both tangy and earthy - oak, ash, a bit of tobacco. Surprising complexity into a quick finish, continued earthy barnyard medium linger.
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11/13/2019 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Monthly Tasting Group HWS #143; Wines from the book "1001 wines you must try before you die" (By BS): Green herbs, dark berries, coffee and toast in the bouquet. On the palate dark berries, brown spiced biscuit, some caramel, creamy blackberries, beautiful acidity and juicy tannin. Beautiful and still youthful wine. 91+
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7/18/2019 - khybner Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still wine of the best wines (Meerlust) I have had and for sure if you take price into consideration.
This one is still fresh and I think it has a number of years still to go.
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7/13/2019 - ozyloy wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for 1 hour then poured. Tasted blind.
Clear, medium/deep ruby.
On the nose, this had blackcurrant, blackberry, (somewhat medicinal) herbs, earth, oak, green leaf, stems. Hints of green pepper and coffee.
On the palate, high acidity, full body, medium+ flavour intensity, medium+ grippy tannins, and a long finish.
A fresh and elegant profile, although the bitter herbal notes are rather dominant at this point. Strong fruit depth and I get the sense this should be better in half a dozen years' time.
Bordeaux-style. Very good QPR.
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5/26/2019 - Kustjagr wrote: 91 Points
This Bordeaux style blend should silence all those criticizing the New World wines for lack of sophistication. Immensely dark, plummy, medium bodied with a nice balance of fruit, tannins and oak. Notes of leather and licorice are already present. Should age well for decades.
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5/14/2019 - karl.1480 wrote: 89 Points
Clear, deep intensity, ruby color.
This wine really shows those schoolbook Stellenbosch Bdx-blend characteristics; ripe black fruit, grilled green bell pepper, bonfire smoke and a great dose of oak. There's also some moist soil, cedar wood and black currant leaves to be found.
Full bodied, ripe and concentrated on the palate but it definitely holds the structure to balance that generous fruit. Even though the intensity to the fruit is really good it is a bit overshadowed by the oak today. Long lingering finish.
A great example of old school Stellenbosch Bdx-blend that has stuffing enough to age. Give this 5-10 years and this will turn out nice. For my taste this style of wine is kind of hard to get excited about.
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4/14/2019 - barrkel Likes this wine: 91 Points
This bottle much more impressive than my last one. Had with beef, opened 3 hours before. Black fruit, cedar, smoke, vanilla, mild long-lasting tannins. Very smooth. Definitely needs a good few hours to open up.
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4/4/2019 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points
Expressive Bordeaux blend, with an enticing sweetness and aromatic complexity. Inviting nose of mature cassis, ink, graphite and cedar. Medium to full bodied, intense, with ripe cassis, blackberries, leather, oak, roast aromas, tofee, nuts, and a long, rewarding finish.
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1/8/2019 - barrkel Likes this wine: 89 Points
Decent cheap Bordeaux blend. Fruity acid (but not harsh) with pronounced woody flavours, cedar more than oak. Very mild tannins. Somewhat lactic nose. Fairly short. Tasty, would be decent with food, not sure I'd trust it with beef, but something a bit lighter, sure. Vague fruit, not cassis. A little bit sour as it gains more air.
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12/16/2018 - MartinHn Likes this wine: 89 Points
Good wine, medium fruit and tannin, it is good but not complex.
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11/17/2018 - wineappellation Likes this wine: 90 Points
Concentrated Bordeaux style, excellent balance and approachable now. Distinct leather and cedar notes. Lack some finess on palate to merit better ratings.
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11/7/2018 - Papies wrote: 90 Points
Young but quite welcoming, softer, silky tannin but not a simple wine. Walks the fine line between quality and depth of flavor but also early approach ability without being too obvious. Good wine solid 89-90
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9/26/2018 - chatters wrote:
South African wine tour - Day five (Stellenbosch): Ooh, a little more subdued than I expected, muted blackcurrant, plum, a little burnt toast and cedar On the palate it's a little fruit sweet initially, quite soft, tannins are present but hand in hand with the fruit. Interesting, grows on me with time. There is a little red fruit note as well.
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