SOUTH AFRICA

Cartology is a cuvee that is composed of rare and extraordinary parcels of mature dryland bush vines. The wine is alive and vibrant. Obviously it's just a baby, but so far has a nose of lime, fennel and quince. The palate is taught, very fine and balanced, with excellent structure and a persistent finish.

"The grapes are fermented exclusively with wild yeasts in old barrels, foundres, clay pots and cement eggs. The wine is aged in the same vessels. No additions are ever made, with the exception of sulphur, which is only added post-fermentation. " - BROADBENT IMPORTS

100% Chenin Blanc (Steen)

From Jancis Robinson's website: Nuttiness and warm coconuts and roasted cumin on the nose overlaying the sweetness of fruit on the palate. Sage and peaches, mid-summer apricots just picked. Wonderful grip and texture, taut. Plays like a Paganini violin solo. Hauntingly!

"Exceptional mouthfeel, texture, freshness and concentration of fruit are the norm from this site. This wine is only released in exceptional years. A rich, broad, opulent style with higher alcohol than the other Badenhorst Chenins, baking spice, cream and apple tart flavors and a taut finish.
The wine is fermented in old 1200L foudres, and matured for 15 months in the same vessels, then racked and bottled. " - BROADBENT IMPORTS

VINOUS 92 POINTS - " The 2018 The Chocolate Block is sourced from the Goldmine and Porseleinberg farms, the Cabernet originating from Voor-Paaderberg, and matured for 16 months in used oak barrels. It offers generous black plum and black currant aromas, pressed rose petals and a touch of menthol. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, and much more structured than the vintages of old (as I have pointed out in previous reviews), displaying fennel, bay leaf and white pepper toward the finish. This feels long in the mouth. A classy Chocolate Block that treads a fine line between commercial and intellectual appeal."

A top South African red wine here from Boekenhoutskloof. The Chocolate Block is made with a blend of wine types, predominantly Syrah supported by Grenache, Cinault, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier. It spends over a year rest in French oak before being bottled up and shipped around the globe for wine enthusiasts that love a rich, chocolatey red.

Cap Maritime is a new project from Marc Kent, the chief winemaker from Boekenhoutskloof. Marc has always considered the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley one of the most exciting places to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in South Africa. Cap Maritime, alongside the other Boekenhoutskloof brands, captures the essence of its terroir of origin while representing the style of wine to which Marc Kent aspires. Marc Kent is the driving force behind the dynamic farm. A maverick spirit, he is unafraid to experiment with the unconventional, but his principal commitment is to quality on every level and in every detail. The Cap Maritime Chardonnay is overtly mineral and stony with layers of limestone, crushed rocks and wet river pebble nuances melting into a melange of yellow citrus, white blossom, grape jelly, green melon preserve and the most subtle kiss of French oak spice. The palate displays a full plump mouthful with hints of ginger bread, grapefruit peel, wet chalk, green honeydew melon, pithy apple skins and a complex vanilla pod spice finish. Seamless and fresh with a harmonious texture from start to finish.

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 14% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, and 7% Petit Verdot

TIM ATKIN, MW 95 POINTS

DECANTER 94 POINTS - "Showcasing the Cape’s ability to turn out great Left Bank-style blends is this Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine from Stellenbosch’s De Toren Private Cellar. Fusion V, the boutique winery’s flagship label, takes its name for its selection of the best of Bordeaux’s ‘noble 5’ grape varieties that comprise the blend...A rich and concentrated wine filled with mixed red and black berries, hints of dark chocolate and an oak-spiciness around the edges. It has a lovely smooth texture and is extremely drinkable. "

De Toren suggests pairing with "tender grilled or roast lamb, with garlic, rosemary, and a hint of honey lemon."

WINE SPECTATOR 94 POINTS - "This sports a core of dark plum and blackberry paste flavors, staying polished and refined in feel, relying more on acidity than tannins, with the structure fully enmeshed in the fruit. Black tea, tobacco and alder hints chime through the finish. Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Tinta Barroca, Cinsault and Carignan. Best from 2019 through 2023. 790 cases made."

In the late 19th century, and much of the 20th, Cinsaut was the workhorse red variety that played an undeclared role in some great red blends. It was an obvious candidate for inclusion in the Old Vine Series, although it poses many quality problems in the vineyard as well as the cellar, including the difficulty of keeping yields down and attaining perfect ripeness, plus its very oxidative character. There were five vineyards considered—but it became clear that the block on the Riebeek Mountain in the Swartland was far above the rest in quality (the snakelike form of the mountain gave the wine its name). After picking, careful sorting is vital to get rid of both under-ripe and over-ripe berries. The whole clusters are then placed in an old wooden open-top fermenter, with one or two punch-downs by foot each day to slowly release juice for fermentation. After a month on the skins the grapes are transferred by hand into a tiny basket press and pressed directly to an old wooden cask. The wine is bottled after a year or so, to retain the fruit and elegance of the wine and avoid any premature oxidation character.

The Soldaat comes from vineyards in the Piekenierskloof. The unirrigated vineyard was planted in the mid 1960s at around 708 meters of altitude in decomposed granite soil with a slight easterly slope. The most planted red grape variety in the world is Grenache Noir. It has had a long standing position in South Africa, but it is very site specific. The Piekenierskloof Pass, going north to Citrusdal, has firmly positioned itself as the leading location for Grenache. It got its name from foot soldiers (piekeniers) located at the top of the mountain to protect livestock from theft, hence being named Soldaat (Soldier). Naturally fermented with wild yeasts. Fermented and aged in concrete vessels.

TIM ATKIN, SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAL REPORT 93 POINTS

This wine blends Chenin Blanc from old bushvine parcels on three farms on the slopes of the Skurfberg ("rugged mountains") between Clanwilliam and Lamberts Bay in the Olifants River Region. They are immaculately farmed properties, which have not been subjected to herbicide or chemical fertilizers by the current farmers. Most of the soils in the area are of decomposed sandstone, and very sandy. Rainfall is low - these vines have had to be tough to survive without irrigation. Together these three low yielding parcels represent the possibilities of the area, each offering something unique to the complexity of the whole. The one site has huge and aromatic fruit concentration; the second offers an earthy character and minerality, and the third (the highest, and closest to the Atlantic) retains amazing acidity and freshness. The three parcels of fruit were vinified separately. They were basket-pressed and then transferred directly to old casks where natural fermentation took place. We blended them after 12 months, and then left them to age another six months before bottling.

WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "A dark, alluring style, with gunpowder tea and warm ganache notes underscoring the core of steeped red and black currant fruit. Features a singed cedar and alder frame, accented by a tobacco hint. Should open up nicely in the cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2017 through 2022."

WINE ADVOCATE 92 POINTS - "The 2012 Signature is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% each of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot; it has a very pure bouquet with cedar-infused blackberry and strawberry fruit. With further investigation, there are touches of incense and cassis, the latter from the Petit Verdot. The palate is smooth and sensual on the entry, just a hint of chocolate (though there is no American oak), with very good depth and it fans out nicely on the finish. It has a hedonistic bent for sure, but Louis Strydom is a skilled winemaker and he pulls it off here, as he has done in previous vintages."

Top-notch Cabernet for $6.99? You bet! The wine proffers gobs of gorgeous, up-front fruit capturing lush vectors of ripe plum, black cherry, boysenberry and black currant fruit deftly accented with sundry hints of spice, carob and espresso. The wine's bright fruit is clearly the star of the show. And while Excelsior's finish showcases just a bit of this wine nation's unique volcanic soil, we think you'll agree that Excelsior could easily have emanated from such familiar locales as Napa or Bordeaux. The beauty of the bottle is the price as we don't often see wines of this quality from either of these renowned regions coming in at the sub-$10 niveau.

Bright lime green hue. Hints of peach, marmalade and orange blossom on the nose. Green apple fruit flavours on a full creamy palate. Calling Card: Only very lightly oaked for everyday drinking. This wine is perfect with grilled seafood, or lightly spiced Thai chicken.

WINE ENTHUSIAST BEST BUY - "There's a strong green, herbal edge to the nose of this refreshing white, expressed in waves of lime peel, peppery herbs and green bean. The lightweight and direct palate offers pithy citrus tones that lend a pleasant astringency to the tart finish. Enjoy now."

"Our low-vigour, stony, clay-rich soil, cool maritime mesoclimate, naturally tiny yields of well under 35 hl/ha and our philosophy of expressing our terroir in our wines – give rise to a certain tightness, tannin line and elevated length to balance the richness and generosity of our Pinot noir. Our Pinot noir is not overtly fruity, soft and "sweet" and it generally shows hints of that alluring savoury "primal" character along with a dark, spicy, complex primary fruit perfume."

Aged 10 months in mostly lightly toasted French oak, about 1/3 new.

Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz is packed with fresh, juicy flavors of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries with dark chocolate undertones. Striking a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, this refreshing and approachable wine is great to sip on its own and matches up equally well with meat dishes, cheeses, and desserts.

37% Pinotage, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc

Kanonkop's widely-produced "emissary of South African wine" is straightforward and highly drinkable, with blackcurrant and tealeaves on the nose and palate, with just a subtle savory sensation from the skins. Round and soft, with a refreshing acidity to carry it along.

TIM ATKIN, MW 91 POINTS

TIM ATKIN 94 POINTS - "Still youthful and showing its 80% new wood, this is a very ambitious Pinotage from a fantastic Cape red wine vintage, exhibiting considerable colour, structure and concentration, fine-boned tannins and layers of raspberry and black cherry fruit. Give it time."

JAMES SUCKLING 93 POINTS

Kanonkop Estate is situated on the lower slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain in the Stellenbosch Region of the Cape and confidently boasts with some of South Africa’s most premium wines.
A complex wine with red fruit flavours. Big, elegant and ripe tannin structures. Will over time show more secondary and forest floor characteristics.

39% Chenin Blanc, 34% Sauvignon blanc, 14% Viognier and 13% Chardonnay

INTERNATIONAL WINE REVIEW 91 POINTS - "Always a crowd pleaser, the Terrasse shows very appealing white stone fruit, lemon curd and floral scents. Softly textured with good backbone and firm acidity complementing riper stone fruit and citrus flavor...fermented and aged in used 500L barrels for 12 months. Lees stirred only during fermentation then left to sit on the lees.13% alc."

VINOUS 90 POINTS

Deeply complex and robust, the nose is layered with Seville orange marmalade, honeysuckle and ginger. Unctuously full bodied with intense flavours ranging from dried mango to fresh vanilla and lively citrus zest. These allow for the perfect balance on the palate, showing restrained concentration with a pithy astringency and a mouth-watering finish.

This wine shows off a modern, elegant style of Pinotage. The grapes for this wine were selected from two of our partners’ finest bushvine vineyards. One vineyard, located on the western slopes of Paarl mountain, is an early ripener and gives a fresher, brighter fruit style; the second vineyard sits on a bowl of shale and adds a richer, more structured component. The grapes were handled carefully and fermented at cool temperatures to preserve aromatics and pressed early to give a soft, plush mouthfeel.

This wine shows off the versatility of old vine Chenin Blanc, upon which South Africa has built a strong reputation. It is a blend of two neighboring old-vine, dry-farmed bushvine vineyards, one planted in 1976 and the other in 1983, with the first giving more stone fruit and mineral characters, the latter giving concentration and texture.

Shows intense citrus and soft fruit layered with honey and vanilla carried by a distinct minerality and crisp acidity with a lingering citrus finish. Coming from a 13 year old vineyard with decomposed shale oiver clay soils. Fermented and aged 11 months in 500 liter French Oak Foudres (40% new). Wine was slightly filtered before bottling. Delightful with warm curries which lift the aromatics or a traditional pairing of smoked salmon highlighting the fresh acidity.

This MAN thing all began with three friends and an idea: to make a wine that we ourselves would love to buy. Good quality, good value, good packaging. Not exactly an epiphany, but enough to motivate us into action. What do we name it? Keeping peace in the family, we took the first initials of our wives. (We each have one wife, that is.) So this is how we explained to Marie, Anette, and Nicky that we were going to be "busy" most weekends. It's for you! we told them. And it's mostly true. But MAN is not only about woMAN, it is about MANkind and huMANity as well. Remember, Africa is the cradle of MAN! For those of you that have experienced South Africa, it won't be a surprise if we state (objectively) that this is the most heavenly spot on earth. The winelands are stunning, with dramatic mountains, lush rolling vineyards, and that African blue sky. Taste a bit of Africa!"

Winemaker notes - The richest and fullest white wine in the M·A·N range, we've won fans with the very delicate oak flavours that are complemented by prominent fruit flavours and butterscotch notes. After a great deal of experimentation, we found the perfect balance by fermenting 10-20% of the wine in small American oak barrels, and keeping the rest of the wine on the lees for up to six months. Complex yet elegant, we're very proud of this grown-up Chardonnay.