(2016) Such solid, sweet and plummy character. A fragrant touch of incense and Sandalwood. Flooded with super sweet black fruit. Cherry skins and touches of liquorice, but really delicious balance with smooth but grippy tannins and delicious pert acidity.
(2016) Stellenbosch fruit aged 22 months in barrel, 30% new. Fresh, youthful, sprightly black fruit, with cassis and a touch of chocolate. This has freshness and cherry juiciness, it's fully ripe with creamy chocolate fruit, but has some tang and really cherry fresh acidity. Maybe a touch of heat just in the finish, maybe needs a year or two.
(2016) Similar aromatic to the 2011, though the sandalwood exoticism replaced by a slightly deeper, slightly richer and Christmas cake spiciness. Very good cassis ripeness. On the palate it has delicious lick of acidity and firm tannins that give it real structure and a bit of grippy persistence. Delicious and long, with a lovely balance.
(2013) The blend is 44% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, "handcrafted in a traditional European style," according to the label. On the nose, soaring mint and cassis dominate, a real eucalypt and menthol lift and a little herbal, some hints of creamy oak and bramble depth. On the palate there is plenty of sweet vanilla here, perhaps a tad too much, but the juicy cut of the acidity and roughening plum-skin edge of the tannins do help to offset the creamy sweetness of the fruit and oak. A big wine, but not a clumsy one, a certain refinement amongst all that ripeness.
