(2025) It's a Rioja with a difference, from the easterly Rioja Oriental region where Tempranillo is not necessarily king. This 100% Grenache wine comes from vineyards at an altitude of 600 metres and was fermented in concrete at very low temperatures to preserve aromatics. The wine is then aged for 12 months in second and third-use French oak barrels. When Grenache is made in this more subtle style rather than full-on, jammy ripeness, some compare it to Pinot Noir, and this example might qualify. It has a truffle and roasted spice component, and a very elegant red apple and small berry fruit character with some floral highlights. In the mouth the oak adds a touch of mocha to underpin the fresh and graceful red fruits, lovely acid and pert tannina balance without ever overpowering. Very stylish. Watch the video for more information.
(2024) Spier's traditional method rosé cones from the
Western Cape and is 100% Pinot Noir. A small percentage was fermented in old French oak barrels, and it was aged on the lees for 14 months. Coppery-pink, the bubbles are moderate and aromas are of rosy red apples and pastille fruits. Though Brut, there is an impression of sweetness and a zippy burst of lemon.
(2024) The Rosé is a new addition to the Mouton-Cadet line-up, from a vineyard of organically farmed Merlot in Bordeaux. It's a crunchy and aromatic wine, very dry and gastronomic, with a burst of Seville orange to the fruit. The palate has some intense small red berry savouriness and very good acidity. This 2021 drinking very nicely.
(2023) A Chardonnay-dominated blend (55%) with a modest dosage of 6g/l, the fruit comes from various vineyards and top villages such as Cramant and Aÿ, the wine spending three years on the lees. It's a beautifully clear and crips style; not austere in the slightest, and not simple and lemony either. The nose has some lovely biscuit character and the palate walks a line between peach, salts and crystalline iced lemon. Refined and elegant, yet has a teasing hint of generosity. Very good.
(2023) From clay loam soils, fruit is gently pressed then racked to both French oak casks and stainless tanks. Toast, vanilla and spices on the nose, a touch of flintiness and cool apple fruit. In the mouth this has a fat lemony fruit and acidity, more of that toasty character and a full texture. It stays relatively lean, just hinting at a peachiness on the mid-palate.
(2023) An enchanting assemblage of eleven separate lots on the estate, incorporating five different clones - MV6, 114, 115, 667 and Pommard. Fragrant spice and earthy herb notes with a red fruit lift to counterbalance black cherry core. Depth and structure (36% new oak, 12% whole bunch) with lovely balance and intensity. (GD)
(2022) First released in 1982, Noble One has become one of the world's most famous Botrytis Semillons wines, certainly outside of Sauternes, the inspiration for its creation. Again Winemaker Julie Mortlock talks of unusual climate/ripening in recent years, with the harvest much earlier than usual. Vines range from 20- to 60-years old, grown on sandy loam. After 12 months in barrel the wine is bottled with 250g/l of residual sugar. Full on, barley sugar and marmalade Botrytis onslaught here, with that dry mushroomy undertone. The oiliness and weight of the palate is in contrast to the Berton's lighter style. So much flavour and texture, the luscious tropical richness shot through with juicy orange, plenty of acidity and the oak adding a custardy creaminess. Terrific stuff as usual from this cuvée. Price for a half bottle, and for a previous vintage at time of review.
(2022) From the decomposed granite of the Polkadraai Hills, a cooler pocket that often harvests three weeks later than the rest of Stellenbosch. Vines rise from 200 - 240 metres above sea level and are aged 31 to 33 years old. It spent 18 months in new and used French oak barrels. Somewhere between ruby and crimson in colour, there's lots of ripe, quite buoyant black and red fruit here; not so much cassis as blueberry and sweet plum, a touch of incense-like, floral lift. In the mouth it is dry and savoury, lots of structure here with grippy, sandy tannins and a keen line of acidity, the plummy and dark fruit re-asserting into a long, spicy and savoury finish.
(2021) A long, mild season, with slower ripening of the fruit. Dense and deep, a touch of lighter orange on the rim. Just a gorgeous and clasic nose, pencil-shaving and graphite, a deep, mulled plum and blackcurrant fruit, that fatness of mulberry, but so much spice from the Shiraz and barrel. The cooler vintage comes through with very good acidity and intensity, dry and savoury fruit, but such sweet ripeness at the core. Very juicy, very gastronomic, with saltiness and spice into a long finish. A lovely cooler-climate style this.
(2021) Another Alsace wine with no real clue that it is a touch off-dry from the label, but that is not un-typical with Alsace Pinot Gris. Succulent and ripe on the nose, there is stone fruit and lemon, leading onto a full and fat palate, the weighty texture of the wine filling the mouth, and the dry, pear-like and citrussy cut of the fruit just nicely offset by that hint of sweetness.
