October 21, 2023 - Drinking beautifully right now. The color is red, browning slightly with some tertiary color appearing. The nose fragrantly pops out the glass with a beam of fresh red fruit, raspberry, strawberry but not tart. Perfect balance of acid and tannin treatment, limited wood notes but a strong sense of fresh peat coming through. Finish is med-long
February 17, 2023 - This has become one of my favorite South African Bordeaux Blends. In past vintages, because it's almost always accessible and it's a good value relative to California, I've drunk them early. But given this wine's track record for aging, I'm going to try to let them age 3-5 more years before trying my next.
December 31, 2022 - Intense and intriguing showing forrest floor, blackberry and tobacco. After opening, a strong smell of cat pee emerged; which wasn’t promising. However, that smell disappeared after a couple hours to leave the way to an aromatic and well made wine. Full bodied, medium acidity and well integrated tannins. NI:3, FI:22, FC:8, B:4, L:4
December 23, 2022 - 10% CABERNET FRANC, 32% CABERNET SAUVIGNON, 13% MERLOT. 11% PETIT VERDOT & 4% MALBEC.
Dark and medium transparent. Decanted 3 hours before dinner. Robust nose with iron, leafy red currant, and red berries. Palate is big and tannic with wet gravel, iron, strawberry compote, ripe cherry, balsamic vinegar. Finish is medium with some heat (unclear if its alcohol, pyrazine flavor or both).
Overall good but not great. Very surprising this is 8 years old. Can easily go 10 more years. Will see how long I can hold on to the last bottle.
July 18, 2022 - Ruby red in appearance. A bit tight to start with perfumed herbs, cherries, peppers and roses. Medium tannins (6.5/10) and medium plus to full bodied. Was expecting some darker nuances and spices. A bit herbal, bright red berries and gravel. Long and dry finish. Drink till 2026.
July 2, 2022 - Intense and powerful. Brooding for a while. Initially very Cab Franc dominated - green pepper and earthy tones. An hour later I got a lot of cranberry and red fruit and increasing eucalyptus. I let it breathe for hours and never felt like I quite bottomed out its evolution. Complex, powerful, lingering. Initially there was some heat on it but that too integrated very quickly. Very fine tannins. Something quite different.
March 17, 2021 - This is interesting...I opened this last night and it was nasty. Lots of SA nose whatever that is but if you’ve ever drank SA red it’s that iodide/iron whatever thing and then there’s the whole deal on the palate which is another story. Still, there was fruit.. so, after half a glass of this stuff I put the cork in it.
Flash forward to now and it’s great! That whole South Africa terroir deal has integrated very nicely with the fruit which is an assembly of blackberry, cassis etc plus fresh potting soil, chocolate and all that other good Merlot / Cabernet stuff.
Seems like this has a very long life ahead of it.
February 7, 2021 - Well balanced Bordeaux blend. Took an hour to open up. Earthy tones with dry ash along with some black cherry and currant. Medium plus body. Enjoy now with decant or wait a few years.
December 19, 2020 - Very stylish, balanced bordeaux blend. Almost certainly too early, but so well-made it was still enjoyable.
December 6, 2020 - Really nice wine. One of the better and more balanced South African wines I've had in a while. A bit on the pricey side, but worth it. Nose of thorny black fruits, green olive, clove. The entry was rather full bodied, similar to the nose, also having a nutmeg and gingerbread note. These wines all have both a uniqueness to them yet quite a few similarities. They can resemble Texas and Virginia AVA wines (and sometimes Finger Lakes reds). But, I would say that the quality of S African wines in the last few years and vintages has really improved dramatically in the last 5 years or so. I'd say that this wine can be held for at least another 7 years or so, and I'll try to hold this one! For me, an easy 92 rating.