John Platter 5* 2012

Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Region

The composition and make up of Hannibal is unique to the Bouchard Finlayson label. This vintage is potentially the best Hannibal ever at Bouchard Finlayson. A very small harvest where the volume of grapes gathered amounted to about half of the previous years’ crop. Small harvests equate to quality.
Some years ago a visit by three Italian oenologists enjoyed the confirmation that the Hannibal blend enjoys the worlds’ finest grape varieties. This was arguably a partisan comment stemming from these learned men, but they were more than satisfied with the achievement of my efforts. Due to the winemakers licence Hannibal does display some small vintage differences, but essentially the composition remains the same. In this bottling the blend is Sangiovese (52 %), Pinot noir (14 %), Nebbiolo (14 %), Mourvedré (10 %), Barbera (7 %) and Shiraz (3 %)

This wine is tight but rich, with a core of silky sweet berry and wild plum aromas. It is beautifully textured with refined tannins arising from the bright but small harvest. The long lingering aftertaste will allow this bottling to develop for many years.