Terroir-istes Local - Bordeaux Blends, Polkadraai

Tasting 4 of 6 of the Bordeaux Blends from South Africa. Tonight is Polkadraai Road

• 2017 Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs Brut 91 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region

  A fine bead of bubbles with a light lemon-yellow colour and vibrant aromas exuding autolytic notes of brioche, bread dough, and yeast extract (marmite). This is a lovely, rich entry that shows extended lees ageing. It has layers of ripe Gala apple, lemon, and traces of smoke, all driven by a firm, vibrant acidity that lifts the wine's tail.
  Elegant yet robust, impeccably structured, offering depth and a lingering dry finish.
  Made from 100% Chardonnay using only the top cuvée, harvested at night to preserve freshness. Half of the base wine is fermented in 205-litre barrels and aged for five months before secondary fermentation. Matured on lees for 48 months.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2017 Meerlust Rubicon 89 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind): Mid garnet with a brick-red edge, indicating some development. A complex bouquet of red berries and blackcurrants is accented by baking spices, cocoa powder, macchiato foam, and a hint of a cigar box. Alluring, medium-bodied with a soft, accommodating, slightly earthy entry featuring oak spices, ground pepper, boysenberry and chocolate, all brushed with lively acidity, keeping the wine upright. Smooth, sandy tannins underscore this long-lengthed wine. A good example but lacks some presence and compulsion for me. Some dried herbs on the finish.
  A blend of 68% CS, 16% Merlot, 12% CF and 4% PV.
  The Cab is grown on granite soils, the Merlot on clay, the CF on well-drained, stony Vilafontes soil, and the PV on Oakleaf soils. It was matured in 60% new and 40% second fill for a total of 18 months.

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2015 Meerlust Rubicon 94 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep ruby with slight gradation at the rim showing some development. A sultry bouquet of dark bramble fruit, cassis, blackberry, graphite, plum, and liquorice is complemented by earthy tones with cigar box, cedar, crushed stone, and spice.
  Some restraint on entry, with a lemon-edged acidity and powdery texture, leads to wonderful concentration in the mid-palate, filled with dark chocolate, blackberry pastille, and mulberry, all held in an intricate lattice of seamless tannins. The wine has an opulence and creaminess in the mid-palate and also manages a freshness that lifts it. An impressively long finish closes with black cherry flesh. There is lots to like!
  A blend of 61% CS, 23% Merlot, 12% CF and 4% PV. Matured 18 months in new oak and second-use oak.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2018 De Toren Fusion V 92 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep ruby with a vibrant hue. An initially subdued nose offering dusty, thick-pile carpet, cola tonic and crayon gradually gives way to blackcurrant, bay leaf and pencil shavings that are quite Bordeaux-like in character. A perfumed minerality emerged with aeration. A richly textured entry with a fleshy, sweet fruit of ripe blackcurrant, transitioning to baked black plum and cassis. Some dried herbs and graphite assuage the sweetness, but the acidity is milder than expected. Secondary notes of vanilla and cigar box lead to some woodsmoke and cola on the back palate. Structurally sound with a plum-skin texture (of Malbec) leads to fine satiny tannins and closes with a pleasing minerality, adding freshness. Fairly polished and with a long finish.
  A blend of 56% CS, 14% Malbec, 14% Merlot, 10% CF, 5% PV.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2017 De Toren Fusion V 91 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep ruby with tilled earth, blackcurrant, nastergal and blackberries complexed with oak spices, roasted herbs, liquorice, cayenne pepper and dried orange peel. A full-bodied, powerful entry with firm, fine-grained tannins, this is a bold, grunty extracted style with concentrated black fruits, cassis, and plum accented by graphite, Marmite and cayenne pepper with some dark chocolate (85%) lurking. The finish is hot, a little grappa-like and relatively short with a faint note of furfural. Fairly ambitious stuff!
  A blend of 52% CS, with the remaining 48% made up of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2015 Van Biljon Cinq Tarentaal Farm 92 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch, Polkadraai Hills

  (Tasted Blind) Deep garnet in colour, the bouquet is complex with a floral lift of jasmine and weirdly petroleum (?) alongside ripe blackberry, boisenberry and plums with some tilled soil, cedar, and cigar box. A charming, intense nose rises further with aeration to reveal dark (85%) chocolate, spice and some rooibos tea. The palate is firm and structured with compact, powdery tannins supporting the black fruit core coated with plummy sweetness, dark chocolate, and spice. There is some depth to the mid-palate as the wine bounces along. The light oak notes allow the fruit to take centre stage, letting it climb up and give elegance to its demeanour, whilst a bright acidity carries the flavours forward. Powdered stone (some felt it was bitter) mingles with the sweet fruit to punctuate the long finish. The 15% alcohol, as we later saw upon revealing, was very well integrated!
  A blend of 47% CS, 18% Merlot, 17% Malbec, 12% CF, and 6% PV. Chris is only using 10% new oak.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2015 Overgaauw Tria Corda 89 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep ruby in colour, the nose has a complex array of aromas, including dried orange peel, cassis, and blackcurrant pastilles, interwoven with notes of damp wood, tobacco, mineral, pencil shavings, and graphite. A ripe, medium-bodied entry with intense, focused flavours that flow linearly and are underpinned by lively acidity and firm, sweet tannins. Cayenne pepper spice adds a heated edge, while the extract and intensity provide real drive. The finish is long and warm, highlighted by dried orange peel and a touch of grappa-like heat, with chocolate, mocha, and wood spices lending additional layers of complexity. However, the wine is only partially knit, with a dusty quality, spiky alcohol and a slightly bitter oak tannin finish.
  A CS-led blend with 35% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2015 Overgaauw D.C. Classic 88 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep garnet in colour. The wine has a ripe, expressive nose of dried orange peel, resin (oak influence?), and a hint of volatile acidity reminiscent of model glue. Bold and ambitious with rich, inky flavours of blackcurrant pastille, Ribena, chocolate-coated wafer biscuits, and warmed spice cake, the wine is expansive, with warming glycerol notes of dates and Christmas cake spices, bordering on a port-like character. Alcohol is relatively prominent, lending power to its core. The Merlot gives breadth to the mid-palate. However, the wine appears developed for its vintage, and somewhat cumbersome. A lengthy tail, while the fruit is sweet, has a slight chewy bitterness from oak tannins.
  14.5% ABV. A blend of 84% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc matured in new oak, a portion being new

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2015 Spier Frans K Smit 93 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep to opaque garnet with bright, expressive aromas of cassis, blackcurrant, cedarwood and graphite point to a Bordeaux blend whilst damson, nastergal, vanilla, coconut, and exotic spice support. A big, full-bodied wine with a lush texture and sweet fruit flavours interwoven with chocolate-coated wafer biscuits, black olive, star anise and spice cake. Sweet, powdery, dense tannins add a base to this powerful, muscular wine with a fair bit of extract. Despite its size, the wine carries itself gracefully, and a thread of florality (Cab Franc?) and lively acidity runs through the core. The finish is long and lingering, marked by herbal notes, pencil shavings, and exotic spices. A commanding presence, the wine contains depth and concentration.
  A blend of 34% CF, 33% Merlot, and 33% CS.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2011 Raats Family Wines MR de Compostella 94 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (Tasted Blind) Deep garnet with a merest hint of orange on the rim. An intense and appealing bouquet offers blackcurrant, blueberry, black raspberry and plum, along with hints of cedar, cola tonic, and baking spices like cinnamon and clove. There are also subtle herbal and earthy liquorice, fynbos, and cigar box undertones. A dense, powerful, and brooding wine with sinewy tannins and plenty of extract. Flavours of dark chocolate, cocoa powder, pastille and dried fruit dominate, supported by warming spice and cedar. While the wine shows impressive length and presence, it leans toward brute strength over elegance, with some jamminess and a chewy texture. A nice line of acidity lifts the back palate, giving a more puckering effect as the wine exits the mouth - a little pomace/grappa, and some felt party. Equally, it is starting to show its age, yet at this point, it has a warming, structured, and persistent finish that works.
  A blend of 52% CF, 20% Malbec, 13% CS, 9% Merlot, and 6% PV. Each grape was vinified separately, with the best barrels selected to form the blend after 12 months of maturation. Further maturation lasted 12 months in new, second and third-fill barrels.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No