Flagstone Dragon Tree 2016

ageing : 

Enjoy now or keep for 3-5 years.

This warm and rich ruby red wine shows great complexity on the nose. There is a mixture of rich dark fruit, cigar box and minty aroma’s with the wood well balanced. Sweet and spicy undertones gives this wine great depth.

This wine is well balanced on the palate showing fresh and crisp acidity. The middle palate shows an explosion of fruit, leaving a lingering aftertaste.

I think what makes Dragon Tree such a successful, cult wine is the tannin structure. We earmark specific vineyards for Dragon Tree. They all have one thing in common – lots of stone and rock in the soil. We believe this contributes to a very specific tannin feel. When we taste through the red barrels once a month, we can often pick out the vineyards because of this.

The result is a blend of different varieties, but from similar soil. This ensures the tannin structure remains gorgeously consistent from year to year. Of all our wines, this has the most French influence, as it is the tannin of great Gigondas wines that we like to see reflected in our Dragon Tree.

The wine takes its name from a Dragon Tree given to the Port Captain of Cape Town, by a passing ship's captain over 100 years ago which grows above what used to be our barrel maturation cellar in the Waterfront. Originally from the Canary Islands this tree has blood red sap. Legend tells of a wicked Dragon who sat at the Pillars of Hercules and blasted ships with lashings of fire as they sailed past. Eventually she was mortally wounded and flew forlornly off to sea to die. Only where her blood landed on earth (on a few remote islands and around the edge of the Mediterranean) do Dragon Trees grow. The Waterfront Dragon Tree unfortunately died during a storm in August 2001 at the age of 150 years.

Dragon Tree will always be a work in progress for that Holy Grail, The Cape red. There is no formula for this wine – we don’t really believe in formulas. Climate is variable and our winemaking is all about truly representing vintage differences.

Wherever this wine takes us, it will be draped in South African colours. The unmistakable Pinotage aromas and flavours are only a small portion of its specific home character. We focus a lot on creating a South African-specific tannin feel by using an old Cape selection of Cab and picking the little beauties when they are completely and utterly ripe.