South African Reds Selection 2.0
- Mixed
- Various
This roundup of ridiculously good South African reds offers six reasons to never look back at another Aussie vino again. We don’t see too many South African wines here in Oz, so we’ve taken advantage of that gap in the market to source some of the most sought-after cult producers from the bottom end of Africa. Intrigued? Read on to find out more about each.
Every case comes with ONE bottle of each of the following:
Red
-
- Cabernet Sauvignon
-
- Stellenbosch
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Stellenbosch
From the stunning vineyards-with-a-view in South Africa's Helderberg comes this striking cabernet. With the nuances of 'minimal intervention' practices, this wine not only shows off terroir but also champions the vineyards, soils, and winemaking. Ripe enough to drink now, the 15 months in French oak and stellar quality fruit have his wine up for a long life. You would be mad not to beg us for the second bottle of this number.
Red
-
- Grenache Blend
-
- South Africa
- Grenache Blend
- South Africa
Winemaker Donovan Rall has been making some of the best wines in South Africa, year after year. Such is the cult following, that we had to do some serious sweet-talking to get our hands on a tiny quantity of these beauties. This Rall Red is a serious and structured style with a couple of years in bottle to settle into its stride. There’s a charmingly rustic quality on display. It’s rich and earthy, with red and black fruit bubbling up from undertones of black pepper and exotic spice. It’d be lost without some refreshing acidity, but that is happily delivered in spades. If you love top-notch wine, but can’t be doing with pretence, this is for you. Just honestly brilliant winemaking and great drinking.
Red
-
- Grenache Blend
-
- South Africa
- Grenache Blend
- South Africa
Next up is Franco Lourens. After working for years under the tutelage of legendary vigneron Chris Alheit, Franco has struck out on his own (he also spent some time at Vasse Felix in Margaret River). Franco named his red blend after his father, a man that has believed in his wine journey from the get-go. With 80% whole cluster and nine months in old French oak, texture and layering are the keys to this wine. You’ll find raspberry, cherry, anise and rose on the nose. Have a sip and it's the freshness that strikes you first. Stony minerality, briny hints, olive and crunchy tannins round out the palate. Another triumph for this young winemaker.
Red
-
- Pinotage
-
- South Africa
- Pinotage
- South Africa
Well, we bet it’s not every day that you see a pinotage pop up. In fact, it’s only once in a blue moon that we see them! Beyond the fun, Willy Wonka-esque label, you’ll be greeted with a wine of equally playful intentions. It’s supple, with an intense depth of flavour. Jumping between fantastic florality, mocha and cherry aromas, you’ll struggle to be bored with this in the glass. And with 99pts from the South African Wine Index, it’s clearly got the local seal of approval.
Red
-
- Shiraz
-
- South Africa
- Shiraz
- South Africa
Cape Agulhas. Ever heard of it? Pop it into google maps and take a look at exactly where this drop hails from. You can’t get much more south in Africa than that. It’s where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and you could certainly classify it as a maritime climate, cool enough to produce the elegant, lifted, lighter and peppery styles of shiraz. The First Sighting shiraz is a great place to start your South African wine journey, and lucky for us all, there’s plenty more where it comes from.
Red
-
- Cabernet Sauvignon
-
- South Africa
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- South Africa
Where doesn’t cabernet thrive? Well, a lot of places. It can be a pretty fickle number, so when you get it good- you have to hold on to it. This beauty shows off great terroir from vineyards just north of Cape Town on South Africa’s West coast: dry-grown bush vines (think super concentrated flavours) sit on granite soils. Richly layered notes of blackcurrant, black cherry, and minerality with a vanilla-laced finish. They are perfectly paired with something meaty straight off the bbq.