Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Signature is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and 5% each of Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It has a well-defined bouquet with blackberry, cassis, espresso and dried herbs. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine, supple tannins. It has impressive focus and delineation with crisp acidity and bright blackberry, orange zest and apricot on the finish. This is a great wine.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a dark, dense and brooding Bordeaux-style blend, comprised of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc. Notes of cocoa, cigar tobacco and leather jazz up the black-fruit core of cassis, black plum and berry. The palate is full and gripping, with firm tannins that hang on tightly through the long and slightly smoky finish. Drink after decanting now, or enjoy through 2018.
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Wine Spectator
This is rather toasty, exhibiting lots of dark cocoa and espresso up front, but with a very solid core of cassis and dark plum fruit for balance. Notes of singed bay mingle with smoky black tea on the finish, which smolders nicely. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
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.
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.