Collectible Reds at under R350

Collectible Reds at under R350 – buy a mixed case today!

” I am one of the lucky ones to have a wine cellar at home, containing about 1,000 bottles. Every year I look out for affordable reds which have performed well in Platter’s Wine Guide and elsewhere. These I lay down for > five years, and they offer great drinking pleasure by the time we serve them. That having been said, you don’t need a cellar per se – just a cool place to tuck them away which is below 18C on average” .         Caroline Rillema

GREG SHERWOOD MW
” A lot of consumers have stocked up their cellars with a good proportion of wines from the 2015 and 2017 vintages and quite rightfully so. These were probably the two greatest vintages modern-era winemaking has ever seen in South Africa. But I would caution consumers on tucking into these two great vintages too early in the same way many European consumers did with the opulent and seductive 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux reds. Indeed, they were very hard to resist such was their immediate overt appeal. My advice would be to buy into the 2018s and 2019s that are being released in South Africa at the moment to allow the more coveted 2015s and 2017s to be savoured on more special occasions in the future.”

Descriptions:

Hiden Valley Hidden Gems 2017
A superb Cabernet Sauvignon driven blend, ruby red in colour and complex aromas of mulberry, thyme, cigar box and white pepper spiciness. The palate follows with more bright fruit, strawberries and plum complimented by an earthiness and subtle cedarwood from careful oaking. It is a full-bodied wine with smooth tannins and concentrated fruit intensity which lends to a generous back palate.

The Bill Winshaw 2017                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            This wine stands out. Consisting of 67% Cabernet Franc, 18% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, it was matured for 24 months in 225- and 300-litre barrels, 37% new. The nose shows red and black berries, cigar box and pencil shavings while the palate has a dense core of fruit, bright acidity and fine tannins, the finish long and particularly dry. It’s a harmonious, elegant offering.’ – Christian Eedes,  93/100

Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
“The aromatics are about as classic as you’ll find for premium Stellenbosch Cabernet with an initially high toned exuberance of pressed violets, tilled earth, iodine, kelp, black currant together with very well integrated notes of sweet sandal wood, cedar spice with the obligatory broody baritone graphite nuances never far away. On the palate the wine begins with a steely textural sternness with plenty of tightly wound spring tension, saline cassis, black berry and bright crunchy acids. Allowed to breath for 5 to 6 hours, this serious wine starts to shed some of its linearity to gain extra palate layers of sweet fleshy black berry fruits, complex spicy tannins and a long dark chocolate and black currant finish. Cellar this classic vintage for ideally 2-3+ years more before revisiting and drink comfortably over the next 10-15 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Zorgvliet Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
From the lower slopes of Stellenbosch’ Banghoek Valley.The nose is loaded with black currant and cassis. A very dense wine on the palate. It is fresh on the entry with great black fruit concentration on the mid-palate. The wine has good length and richness right through to the finish. Tannins are ripe and woody, but fine and dense. The wine has a long and lingering black fruit finish.

Die Kat se Snor Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Die Kat se Snor is the private label of Gerhard Smith, winemaker at Hemel-en-Aarde winery, Creation Wines. Hemel-en-Aarde fruit, 18 months older French barriques, inky 2019exudes style and power.Beguiling curves, with deep layered cassis, herbaceous nuances, savooury spice, supporrted by firm but ripe tannins promising fine cellaring until 2028.

De Grendel ‘Op die Berg’ Shiraz 2019
Elegant and complex, full-bodied, fragrant and fresh – the maiden vintage of De Grendel Op die Berg Syrah is a distinctive wine grown in one of South Africa’s highest, and coldest, winemaking districts. Op Die Berg Syrah 2019 has a vibrant purple hue in the glass. The aromatic intensity of the nose evokes nuances of sweet cranberries and a liberal dose of white pepper, so typical of cool-climate Syrah. Full bodied on the palate, this Syrah is a marriage of sweet red fruit and blackberry pastilles, layered with white pepper and spice. The lingering finish shows a good balance between fruit and oak. Offering superb drinking pleasure on release, the wine will reward careful cellaring for up to 8 to 10 years.