Community Tasting Notes 23

• Keith Cooper Likes this wine: 92 points

  April 3, 2024 - Tasted at Three Borders Wine Group, Hampshire, UK. We enjoyed a vertical tasting of Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, tasting six vintages from 2012 to 2005. This case was made available in the UK through The Wine Society and the wines had recently been shipped from the winery.
  
  These notes feature the note on all 6 vintages:
  
  2012: Decanted one hour as recommended. This has a dash of petit verdot. This bottle was expected to be one of the best, but sadly was slightly oxidised with a metallic taste and no fruit. It was drinkable. The colour was medium plum. The palate was earthy, mushrooms, veggie. Not good.
  
  2011: Decanted one hour as recommended. Dark plum colour. Fully mature and ready to drink. Rich and silky. Blackcurrants. Smooth. Good.
  
  2010: Opened one hour before tasting. Dark plum with browning at edges. Rich, chocolatey, full and long. Good.
  
  2007: Cork broke (but that was probably my fault), so decanted and filtered. This has some cabernet franc and merlot. Dark plum colour, slightly cloudy. Menthol nose, perfumed. Rich, full and well balanced. Drinking well. Good.
  
  2006: This vintage was tasting very well. The palate has a sweetness about it, tending to port like. It's fresh, medium purple. Lots of blackcurrant fruit on the palate. Very good.
  
  2005: This vintage does not bear the Reserve label, because that wasn't introduced until the following vintage. We had saved the best till last! Still remarkably young looking, lots of blackcurrant fruit, plenty of tertiary flavours showing. This had also developed a sweetness, becoming almost port like in style. Excellent!

  Comment

• Wallgranger wrote: 94 points

  February 15, 2024 - Beautiful dark and rich wine; dusky perfume. Fruit is red rather than black, nice and sharper. Classy palate: a treat

  Comment

• Joshvoulters Likes this wine: 87 points

  February 3, 2024 - Not profound or life changing but a very reasonably priced way to scratch the mature Cab itch: cedary with some green pepper notes, blackcurrant, blackberry hedgerow, beef stock. Compact on the palate, reasonable concentration but pinched and a little short: relatively grippy tannins and powerful acidity.

  Comment

• Gone with the wine Likes this wine: 93 points

  January 12, 2024 - Pretty blackberry, plum, smoke and violet on the nose. Still quite robust grippy drying tannins. Only got better with time.

  Comment

• dave747400 wrote: 92 points

  October 18, 2022 - This is why you cellar great SA wine. Superb. 17yrs old but still fresh. No softie, still a tannic framework, perfect with something seared, red & bloody.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2005
• Type Red
• Producer Vergelegen
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country South Africa
• Region Coastal Region
• SubRegion Stellenbosch
• Appellation Stellenbosch

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 1 (0%)
• In Cellars 170 (59%)
• Consumed 117 (41%)

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