Glenelly Glass Collection Cabernet Franc 2021
Deep ruby with a violet rim. Tremendous brilliance on the nose — garrigue character of dried thyme, oregano and Cape fynbos over blackcurrant, mulberry and a graphite edge. Medium- to full-bodied with fine-grained tannins, a herbal-savoury mid-palate and a long, mineral-driven finish. Excellent with roast lamb, grilled vegetables and harder cheeses.
Groot Constantia Gouverners Reserve Red 2021
The Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve Red 2021 is a South African red blend from the Constantia region, featuring notes of blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and cedar. It is a full-bodied, complex wine with a firm structure and aging potential, made primarily from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
Glenelly Lady May 2020
Glenelly Lady May 2020
Crafted from the best Bordeaux components of 2020, it reveals rich dark berry aromas with hints of mocha and cedar on the nose. The palate offers sweet fruit flavours, smooth tannins, and a long, refined finish.
Lady May is Glenelly’s flagship estate wine. The 2020 Bordeaux blend pays tribute to the pedigree of its legendary owner. In honour of May de Lencquesaing’s 100th birthday, a special-edition label graces the Lady May 2020 vintage. A rare collector’s item for your cellar.
GRAPE VARIETIES : 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Tim Atkin MW 2024 96 Points
Neal Martin – Vinous 2024 93 Points
James Suckling 2024 94 Points
Anthonij Rupert Optima 2021
ANTHONIJ RUPERT OPTIMA 2021
37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec
Tendrils of spice add nuance and allure to a nose packed with black berries, hedgerow fruit and some mocha notes. The palate is plush, rounded and pillowy but layered with dark fruitcake flavour, black cherry, baking spice and pencil shavings too. The mouthfeel is complemented by its overall stature and regal refinement. Balanced with seamless integration of oak and ripe, rich fruit with lovely succulence and freshness as well. Complex, supple and silky smooth, the wine is ultimately simply delicious with a superbly long tail
Glenelly Estate Reserve 2017
Glenelly Estate Reserve 2017 is the signature red blend of Glenelly inspired by the classic Claret style of the 1700s, with Cabernet Sauvignon as its backbone, delivering rich cassis, mulberry, cedar, and tobacco notes. Syrah adds red and black cherry flavors with a touch of black pepper spice on the mid-palate. The wine is complex, layering intense fruit with mocha, Christmas cake, sandalwood, and leather. Fresh, fruity acidity balances firm tannins, leading to a clean, dry finish with strong aging potential.
GRAPE VARIETIES 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 12% Syrah, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet franc
91/100 Decanter World Wine Awards 2023: Silver Medal
90/100 International Wine Challenge 2023: Silver Medal
93/100 Tim Atkin MW Special South Africa Report 2021
Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2021
Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2021 is the second vintage to include Cabernet Franc in the blend, which lifts the texture making for a more elegant wine, although Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon still dominate the assemblage. This is Classique at it’s best and after 16 months in French oak and a few years in the bottle this vintage is singing! A complex and smoky nose starts off with roasted coffee, cassis, black cherry and earthy spice. The palate is medium to full bodied with seamless tannins and just enough acidity to retain freshness. There’s ripeness and richness on the palate, but it’s not overworked or overripe, it’s balanced and very well made. The wines of Rupert and Rothschild seem to get better with every passing vintage, and Classique 2020 certainly supports that theory.
92/100 Deano da Vino
Raats Dolomite Cabernet Franc 2022
The nose shows dark and red cherry.
Dark berries, spiciness and herbs linger on the palate. The wine has great purity of fruit with a hint of wet-stone minerality and a velvet soft finish.
Blend information: Crafted from 95% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec, this blend showcases the expressive character of these noble grape varieties.
Aging potential: Indulge in the Dolomite Cabernet Franc 2021 now for its exceptional drinkability, or allow it to evolve gracefully with cellaring for another 2 – 5 years.
Food suggestions: Pair this exquisite red with culinary delights such as pork loin with plum and Armagnac sauce, game bird with red wine sauce, or hearty dishes featuring Springbok, Ostrich, Kudu, Karoo lamb, or hard cheeses.
Most Recent Accolades:
2021 – 91 Points Tim Atkin MW
2020 – 91 Points Neal Martin MW Vineous
2020 – 91 Points Tim Atkin MW
Warwick Cabernet Franc 2022
Raats Red Jasper 2022
Raats Red Jasper 2022, is a blend of 49% Cabernet Franc, 35% Malbec, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Merlot and 3.5% Petit Verdot, we encounter an incredibly plush, luscious, approachable red blend brimming with earthy red berry fruits, aromatics of violets and sweet lavender, dried baking herbs and subtle notes of graphite and lead pencil. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied and plush, soft textured but also fleshy, creamy and deliciously accessible boasting toasty notes of black currant, damson plum and sour black cherries. A very compact and complete wine on release, this cuvee might not rise to the heights of the 2021, but in a funny kind of way, consumers desiring instant enjoyment now may actually love the 2022’s creamy opulence more than the bracing acid structure of the 2021. This wine simply gets better and better every vintage. Well done Bruwer!
93/100 GSMW (review c/o.)
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Food suggestions Venison dishes / lazy-aged sirloin or rib-eye / Hard cheese
Constantia Glen FIVE 2022
TASTING NOTE
This wine has a vibrant and youthful dark ruby colour. On the nose, pronounced aromas of Morello cherries, ripe blackcurrant, and plums are elevated by a delicate fragrance of violets and dried herbs. Underlying savoury notes of tobacco pouch, cedar, and graphite add complexity and intrigue.
On the palate, the wine is rich and concentrated, with bold dark fruit flavours that are beautifully balanced by this blend’s inherent freshness. The fine-grained tannins provide a mouth-coating texture and wonderful persistence that creates a lingering finish. This wine is beautifully structured, showcasing a harmonious blend of dark fruit, elegance, and finesse. The wine comes across as tightly wound in its youth, but with all the potential for incredible ageing potential.
TECHNICAL DATA
A carefully crafted blend of 28% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 9% Malbec, matured for 19 months in 80% new and 20% secondfill 225 litre French oak
barrels. Following barrel maturation, the wine received a very light filtration before making its way into bottle on 12 December 2023. With no fining agents used during the production of this wine, a harmless sediment may occur during maturation in the bottle. This is a classic and bold vintage of the Constantia Glen FIVE, which will continue to age and develop admirably in bottle for up to 10 to 15 years from harvest, under correct cellaring conditions.
Meerlust Rubicon 2021 Gift Tin
Tasting Notes
Very youthful colour, deep and dense with almost purple hue. Quintessential Rubicon nose with violets, ripe plum, cedar wood, fennel, and intense spiciness. Typical liquorice notes also evident on the nose. Still young and intense, the palate is full bodied, structured but packed with fresh dark fruit and rounded tannins and seamlessly integrated oak.
Blend Information
48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
Accolades
2024 Platter's Wine Guide - 5 Stars
Ageing Potential
Ageing potential of 10 - 20 years, provided wine is stored in ideal cellar conditions.
Raats MR de Compostella 2020
Never made with exactly the same blend in any two vintages, the 2020 is a classic Cape Bordeaux assemblage of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot with a total production of only 1,000 x 6. The wine displays a real intensity in the glass with a ruby red rim and a red / black plum heart. The aromatics are vibrant and fabulously perfumed, bursting from the glass with expressive notes of red and black berry fruits, black currant, raspberry, red and black cherry, before notes of earthy blueberry emerge with suggestions of pressed violets, lavender, sweet sandalwood, star anise and graphite spice. On the palate, the vintage’s regal elegance emerges with exhilarating acids framing the plush opulent red and back berry fruits, saline cassis, tart red cherry and a blueberry confectionary generosity.
98/100 Greg Sherwood MW
