Winemaker Notes
This wine exhibits a dense purple color with a brilliant red rim. Aromatically the wine offers a smorgasbord of red fruit characters: plums, dark cherry preserves, and dried cranberries. Underlying these are more mature aromas of dried flowers, balsamic and fruit cake. Open and inviting, this vintage is notable for its silky, succulent entry, lovely weight, resolved tannin, ripe red fruit flavors, and long finish. With only a modest maturation in new French oak, purity and clarity of aromatic expression characterize this elegant blend of the Series M Malbecs, Merlots, and Cabernets from their Vilafonté vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2014 Series M has a rich, generous bouquet of raspberry coulis and brown spice; a hint of menthol emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and quite firm in the mouth. White pepper emerges on a finish that needs to develop greater precision (something I discerned in previous tastings). It has improved slightly in recent months, though I still prefer the 2012.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Series M comes from 17 different blocks each vinified separately. It is matured in French oak for 20 months, just 3% new oak mainly, as it turned out to be a larger vintage than expected according to winemaker Zelma Long. It has a rich bouquet, ripe and generous with kirsch, crushed strawberry and blueberry, later just a smear of creme de cassis. The palate is soft and rounded on the entry, a little smudged perhaps, yet still nicely balanced with a sprinkle of white pepper towards the finish.
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.