(2019) From Cima Corga and Douro Superior, this spends 12 months in three- and four-year-old oak. Again the Douro's Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca is the blend. Instantly smoother and silkier, the palate has a blue-black fruit intensity, it is fleshy, but the smoother tannins and ripe fruit married to elegant plummy acidity.
(2019) Elegant lift here, the florals and bergamot and violet perfume pronounced, creamy black berries, so pure. Beautifully supple sweetness with some bittersweet cocoa and endive bite of cherry ripe acidity. Deep and delicious.
(2019) Though I am a big fan of Chenin Blanc, a recent focus has also been on South Africa, a great Chenin producing country. But of course the spiritual home of Chenin Blanc is the central Loire Valley, with appellations like this one, Vouvray. Here, a 'Sec' or dry example shimmers with pristine apple fruit, a summer meadow note of hay and dry grass, and on the palate terrific focus with its sheer, salty, mineral character and acidity. There is a slippery, weighty texture, but clean and intense with all that saline, mouth-watering appeal. Watch the video for food-matching ideas and more information.
The Anwilka esate is actually in Stellenbosch, once a separate property before merging with Klein Constantia. This is 52% Syrah, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Petit Verdot. Much more minty ripeness, chocolate and mulberry than the Estate Red, a depth of blue-black fruit. The palate has a lot more fruit sweetness too, nicely textured and not heavy or extracted, but full and ripe. Tannins are very smooth and taut, cherry skin dry acids give it a long finish.
(2019) Clean, fresh pear fruit, lemony and bright, a whisper of herbaceous character, but clean and understated. Very pure and limpid lemon and melon fruit, edging into the tropical, but staying very pure and with a real ripeness and sweetness at its core that is lovely.
(2019) Like the Vin de Constance from neighbouring Klein Constantia this is made from Muscat de Frontignan. It's a rather different wine though, a much deeper colour than the Vin de Constance, and a lovely but more one dimensional nose perhaps, with flowers and a slightly more figgy ripeness. Lovely palate, super-sweet, 180g/l of residual sugar. More full bodied and powerful, more caramel and toffee, and spice, tobacco and marmalade, but not quite the complexity. Price for a half bottle.
(2019) Twelve months in oak, all French, neutral and medium toast. Exotic spice, nutty, seeds and oatmeal over golden plum and citrus. There's great fruit focus here, oranges and limes and that creamy toast background and persistent sweetness. Long and distinguished.
(2019) From 40- to 45-year-old vines, this has creamier, less come-hither fruity character, more oatmeally and leesy. The palate again has very good fruit sweetness but this time swept up in a rush of sour lemon acidity that is mouth watering and gives lovely balance.
(2019) Much fuller and more ripe than the Restless River Cab Sauvignon (tasted alongside and which is a bit of a Cab Franc lookalike), 20% whole clusters were used and the wine aged only in larger oak. Creamy and ripe fruit, a certain density to the aroma, lots of spices and elegant tobacco, touched by Cab Franc leafiness. The palate has such juiciness married to dryness, really dry, but not at all over-extracted, with great, tangy fruit-skin bite and energy.
(2018) Another wine that is 100% Gin Gin clone, whole-bunch pressed into French oak (25% new) with spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts. No malolactic. Very subdued, a touch of saltiness but very subtle - too subtle? The palate has plenty of lemony fruit, good drive from the acidity, just a touch of nuttiness filling in
