Description

From a flavour and texture point of view, a wine with an embarrassment of riches. Ripe black cherries combined with fresh aniseed. Prominent and bold tannin, with the wine being juicy enough to not be off-putting.

Sourced from a 1981 vineyard in the hills 30km northwest of Clanwilliam (Citrusdale Mountain WO, Olifants River). Red sandy soils and struggling vines, battling for survival. But grapes, like most other living things, tend to be at their strongest when they are fighting for survival. The wine spent 20 months in first fill Austrian oak foudre.

91 points: Tim Atkin MW