Rust en Vrede Stellenbosch Shiraz 2004
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aroma: This fruit driven nose is both complex and interesting, backed up by subtle chocolate and cigar box aromas.
Palate: The fruit driven aromas filter onto the palate with a soft juicy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Muscular spice, deep red berry and blackberry and sturdy tannins give this strength and elegance. The fruit is assertive and delicious, the mouthfeel fresh and the finish lingering. Could use a few years of aging for extra character, but today, a robust and stylish choice.
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Wine Spectator
This Syrah has a slightly rugged feel for now, with a strong briary undertow to the black currant, fig cake, licorice root and Turkish coffee hints, but there's plenty of density and flesh pumping through the finish. Cellar short term to let this round into form. Drink now through 2010. 3,000 cases made.
Other Vintages
1997-
Wine
Spectator
In 1991, President Nelson Mandela awarded the Merit award of export achievement to the estate. During this period, they tirelessly worked on building the Rust en Vrede brand into a world quality product. These efforts were rewarded in 1993 when President Mandela selected Rust en Vrede to be served at the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize banquet.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.