Intense, vibrant red with an even brighter red on the rim. At first, cigar box comes through but also intense red fruit on the nose, followed by sprigs of violet, minty chocolate and chalkiness. When you pick up the glass, initially you’ll be struck by dark fruit but then the aromas swing back to violets, cigar box and pencil shavings - the distinctive chalkiness that’s the ‘rememberage’ of this very special Helderberg terroir. There’s complexity to this wine - much more than just pencil shavings and cassis - with Cabernet Franc bringing in fresh florals and Malbec adding brightness and perfumed notes. I’m excited to see where it goes from here, knowing it’ll age extremely extremely well. The profile of the granite soils makes this blend full-hearted, with polished, integrated, firm tannins. A gigantic mouthfeel!
To complement the flavours, I’d go with tender, flavourful meat and a red wine sauce, perhaps with delicate wild mushrooms as a side. A good beef fillet, simply prepared, or matured kudu loin marinated in buttermilk, rolled in biltong spices and seared on a hot fire, would be wonderful.