Winemaker Notes
Blend: 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Bold, dark and concentrated, this blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 9% Petit Verdot still shows some youthful restraint on the nose and palate, suggesting this is a wine best enjoyed after 2018 and through 2024. Seductive notes of toasted oak, cocoa nib, licorice and Thin Mint kiss the black-fruit core of boysenberry, blackberry and cherry. The mouthfeel is dense, with a firm structure and bold tannins that grip the long, spicy finish. Cellar Selection.
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Wine Spectator
A lush, ripe, enticing style, with lovely raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry coulis flavors that stretch out, carried by a well-embedded graphite spine through a long anise- and roasted apple wood-framed finish. Rock-solid. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.