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.

WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "There has been a change with the 2015 Radio Lazarus. In 2013, Chris started working with a hilltop vineyard in Bottelary that formed the source for his Cartology, but now this has been 're-routed' into this label, so that Radio Lazarus comes from two parcels instead of one. The bouquet has a very succinct bouquet with almond, hazelnut, dried honey and Mirabelle. The palate is very well balanced with fine acidity, more a textural delight than overt flavors with sublime orange pith, walnut and saline notes on the ethereal finish. This is a strong follow-up to the stellar 2014 and it may even surpass it. A must-buy. Drink: 2018-2028."

Producer notes: "100% high land dry land bushvine Chenin Blanc. At this early stage of the wine’s life, the nose is showing lovely aromatics of apple, citrus zest, fennel and its typical chalky/dusty note. The palate is full of energy. Sweet fruit elements swim upstream in vain against a rip current of stony salinity. Tannic and textural elements amplify the great natural acidity, creating a very refreshing, palate cleansing drink."

This is gorgeous, with light cinnamon, black tea and powdered star anise notes inlaid into a streamlined and silky core of crushed cherry and raspberry fruit. The long, perfumy finish weaves like incense smoke in the air as a subtle minerality plays out. Drink now through 2021. 250 cases imported.

Secateurs – shape Badenhorst's bush vines during the winter pruning and are used to pick the ripe grapes in summer. The winery's family has, for the last three generations, nurtured their vines so that they can produce fruit of integrity. This is a truly unique rose as it was made from very old vines and really displays the minerality that characterizes the wines from Badenhorst's farm. The aromas are complex red fruits, spice, rose water, currants and the palate is generous and textured with a long finish.

A perfect example of elegance and finesse in Pinotage. Red berries, plums and cherries on the nose, followed by a palate of excellent balance, structure and a lovely dry finish. Matches very well with bobotie, game and curries, spare ribs and pepper steak, or try snoek and grape jam.

Lovely fresh tropical fruit aromas flow onto a crisp fresh palate with a perfect balance between the acidity and sweetness, giving this wine great length and intensity.

Winemaker's Notes: "It has an intense ruby red color, with plum cake, red fruit, and dark chocolate aromas, offering savory finish on the palate. The first sorting was done in the vineyards. The perfect bunches were transported in bins to the winery, destemned, sorted and fermented in 5 ton open fermentors. The cap was punched every 2 hours for 60 hours until the right extraction was achieved. After pressing, malolactic fermentation was done in 15 French oak, and 300 liter American oak barrels. The wine matured for 19 months in the barrels."

A blend of 73% Syrah, 12% Grenache, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cinsault and 1% Viognier, this is a superbly fruity, chocolatey, generally yummy South African red wine. Pour yourself a glass on a mid-summer evening and enjoy.

Classical Boekenhoutskloof complexity with exceptional purity. At first there is overwhelming blackcurrant and cassis on the nose with underlying cedar and spices. The palate shows intense black fruit, prunes and sour cherries with perfect balance. This wine will improve over the next decade.

The inspiration for the name of the wine and design of the labels was a trip to the Yale Center for British Art. An exhibit of Mary Delany’s work, a remarkable series of botanical collages that are beautifully crafted with hundreds of tiny pieces of cut paper was breathtaking. I am fortunate to have licensed a few of her collages and created these beautiful labels with her art as the primary focal point. Mary was 72 when she created these pieces in the late 1700’s.

Seductive 2014 as complex & enigmatic as previous. Grapefruit & citrus rind, honeyed richness tempered by leesy minerality, spiced by careful partial oaking (none new). Silk textured & generous

WINE SPECTATOR 92 POINTS - "This is refined, with a steely spine that lets gooseberry, verbena and white peach flavors streak through. A hint of shortbread adds range and mouthfeel along the edges. The long finish has lovely cut. Drink now through 2019."

Long referred to as "Bayten" by locals, Buitenverwachting (meaning beyond expectations) is located on the east-facing slopes of the Constantiaberg on the Cape of Good Hope. Ocean breezes make this area one of South Africa's coolest winegrowing areas, allowing for slow ripening, resulting in grapes that achieve full ripeness while retaining fresh acidity. This wine was aged on the lees for three months prior to bottling. Bayten offers a melange of citrus and stone fruits with honeysuckle, jasmine and green notes on the nose. The palate reveals peaches, apricots, lemon rind and lemongrass with a nice balance of richness and refreshing crispness on the finish.

This is a stunning, world class Chardonnay that should be on your radar. Wine Critic Tim Atkin designated it as his pick for the White Wine of the Year, calling it "the best Chardonnay I've ever tasted from South Africa." We believe this Chardonnay is worthy of the accolades and its apparent the winemaking team from Chamonix is one of the most dynamic and exciting producers in the world. Fortunately, the wines are still somewhat under the radar meaning pricing is reasonable and does not accurately reflect the quality found in the glass. The Chamonix wines are not readily available, with only a small amount imported into the United States.

TIM ATKIN MW SOUTH AFRICA REPORT 2015 97 POINTS - "This is the best Chardonnay I've ever tasted from South Africa, sold at a price that should have people besieging retailers. Tangerine, understated oak, leesy texture, some baking spices and a spinal chord of acidity: this wouldn't look out of place in a tasting of Grands Crus Burgundies. Sets a new benchmark for Cape Chardonnay. Drink: 2015-22"

During a recent tasting of South African wines, the wines from Chamonix clearly stood out. Situated high above the fertile Franschhoek valley in the heart of the Cape winelands, lies a wine farm like no other. The wines from Chamonix are fantastic including the Reserve Pinot Noir which shows great purity of fruit and incredible balance. It is just what we look for in a premium Pinot Noir and we instantly knew it was worthy of being one of our top wines of the year. So complex, so delicious and so harmonious, we had to bring it into the store to share it with you. We are thrilled to be one of the few retailers in the United States to offer this fantastic pinot Noir. Enjoy!

TIM ATKIN MW SOUTH AFRICA REPORT 2015 94 POINTS - "Chamonix’s best Pinot Noir vineyards are all located above 490 metres, which partly explains why they are the best in Franschhoek. Aromatic and hauntingly perfumed, this is a quintessence of fine Pinot Noir: bright and spicy and very elegant with succulent red berries and vivid supporting acidity. Drink: 2015-20"

A rich and concentrated blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, this barrel fermented wine combines oak and tropical fruit flavours with a well-integrated minerality. An elegant wine with exceptional balance and length and fantastic ageing potential.

A lovely, lifted earthy perfume combines with sweet cherry, grapefruit and strawberry notes delivering a complex and alluring nose. The palate is textured and layered with a succulent core and crisp acidity owing to a cool, fresh vintage. This wine will improve over the next 5-8 years.

"The iconic Left Bank-based blend from De Toren, Fusion V is meticulously crafted from Bordeaux’s ‘Noble Five’ varietals and, with its complex flavours of liquorice, black cherry, cedar and dark berries, it offers a stylish departure for sophisticated oenophilic tastes.Soft as spun silk, with a lingering hint of sweet fruit on the back palate, this is a wine that will only improve with age." -Winemaker’s Notes

Winemaker's Notes - " Rich aromas of cassis and spice with intense liquorice andblackberry flavors on the palate and fine, lingering tannins.Optimal aging potential of 5 – 8 years.
Blend: 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc"

WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "The 2014 Reserve Chenin Blanc, which is matured in 25% new oak, has a crisp, reserved, stone rather than fruit-driven bouquet with a brush of jasmine and honeysuckle. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry, very smooth and lightly honeyed, building to a focused and satisfying finish - orange zest, dried apricot and shaved ginger all making an entrance and partying likes it's "1999" (or in this case, 2014). This is a superb Chenin Blanc, one of the finest that the Cape produced in 2014."

STEPHEN TANZER 95 POINTS - "(30% Chenin Blanc plus nine other varieties in almost equal parts; done mostly in concrete and clay amphoras, with 10% made in big wooden demi-muids): Bright, light yellow. Outstanding aromatic purity and nuance to the pungent aromas of orange blossom, minerals, clove and mint. Highly concentrated yellow fruit flavors are perfectly framed and carried by harmonious ripe acidity. This wonderfully silky white blend really expands to fill the mouth, without any loss of precision. Finishes with great rising length. Sadie whole-bunch-presses this wine on a four-hour cycle, noting that it has more tannins than all of his reds with the exception of Columella. But the wine's phenolic character is well-supported by sheer stuffing and extract."



WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "The 2013 Palladius comes in at 13.7% alcohol, one of the lowest for this label. It has a refined bouquet of dried honey, fern, smoked walnut and damp earth all very well defined. The palate is very well balanced with wonderful poise, a strong marine influence with a dash of white pepper and nutmeg towards the long and sustained finish. Another superb Palladius."

WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "From 48-year-old vine Cinsault grown on slate soils, the 2014 Old Vine Series Pofadder has an extremely pure bouquet, less tertiary than the 2014 Soldaat (grown on decomposed sandstone), with touches of pressed flowers infusing the fresh strawberry and redcurrant fruit. With aeration, there is an intriguing incense/potpourri note. The palate is taut and crisp, brimming over with tension and extremely focused with slightly more brittle tannins than the Soldaat -- lending the chalky-textured finish fine symmetry, albeit without quite the same sustain. It might sound odd, but it tastes fabulous."

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.

WINE ADVOCATE 95 POINTS - "The 2014 Old Vine Series Soldaat...swear to God...if I was served this blind I would claim it to be a Burgundy Pinot Noir. It has a wonderful definition and transparency, and is extraordinarily pure with an enthralling sous-bois undertow. The palate is taut and linear, very focused, nimble and poised with fine but strict tannin; it is tightly wound with tertiary red berry fruit that segue into a poised finish. This is a serious Grenache from Eben Sadie, one that deserves to be cellared for as long as you can withstand. (Eben thinks it will go into a slumber after a couple of years, so bear that in mind.)"

WINE ADVOCATE 96 POINTS - "The 2015 Old Vine Series Treinspoor, Eben's Tinta Barocca cuvée, which he said has "the biggest passport in South Africa" since the grape has been grown there for a long time for fortified wine production, has a lucid ruby color. Eben told me that it is actually one of his most difficult sells but I am of the opinion that it is one of his best wines. Darker in colur than then other OVS labels, it has a captivating bouquet with raspberry, cranberry leaf, tobacco and damp wet clayey aromas. The palate has firm tannin that Eben compared to Piedmont, which I can understand. The acidity is beautifully judged with killer salinity and mineralité on the finish that both linger in the mouth. This is an outstanding South African wine."