Winemaker Notes
This wine is a very versatile food pairing wine due to its great acidity and weight. It works exceptionally well with very fine spicy foods. Its aromas of mulberries and blueberries perfectly complements rich fish, lamb, duck, beef and poultry.
Blend: 47% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Beginning with bold, expressive black fruit aromas in the glass, the 2017 Z offers juicy, blackberry essence with a dusty frame that is an instant success. Medium to full-bodied, the wine shows a balanced structure, with hints of reduction across the mid-palate that will allow this wine to age well past its 10th birthday. Concluding with a long-lingering and juicy finish, De Toren was absolutely able to capitalize on this fantastic vintage. Bravo!
Rating: 91(+?) -
Wine Spectator
This shows lots of fruit, with red and black currant, cocoa and damson plum notes, all backed by ripe but firm tannins. It is balanced and shows good depth, but this is for the fans of the riper style. Drink now through 2027.
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.