Botanica Arboretum Cabernet Blend 2016
This gorgeous Bordeaux style blend comes from a five hectare vineyard around winemaking wonder Ginny Povall’s house. Classic in its outlook, you can expect to find all the blackcurrant, cassis, mint, cedar and spunky tannin of a fine cabernet blend. Rich yet elegant, this benefits from some fantastic knitting together of parts; cab franc, merlot and petit verdot are superbly judged in the blend to cover all bases. It’ll age superbly, too, no doubt.
Profile
Part of our Women in Wine Collection
We are committed to ALWAYS having wines available that are made by women. In an industry that’s still dominated by men, we believe in celebrating the incredible work women are doing. Here’s to our Women in Wine!
Winemaker: Virginia ‘Ginny’ Povall
Ginny (as she’s pretty much universally known) is an American-born, South African resident winemaker and protea farmer. Proteas are a much more profitable crop, but she can’t resist the draw of the grape, too. So, she does both. She left her job as Chief Operating Officer at a large consulting firm in New York to start Botanica wines. Talk about inspiring!
Reviews
Tim Atkin
“Arboretum is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Bordeaux style blend sourced from the five hectare vineyard around Ginny Povall’s house. Improving with every vintages, it’s smooth yet well structured, with granular tannins and a core of sweet, opulent plum and cassis fruit. 2018-23 Platter’s 4 stars: Cab’s cassis richness to the fore in smooth Bordeaux-style 2016, seamlessly knitted with Cab Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. 12 months in old oak.”
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- South Africa
- Vintage
- 2016
- Cellaring
- 2023
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 14.5%
- Closure
- Cork
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- Cabernet Sauvignon 49% Merlot 28% Cabernet Franc 17% Petit Verdot 6%
- Serving Temp.
- 17.0°C
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Traditional roast lamb
Ingredients
- 2kg leg of lamb, fat trimmed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1.5kg chat potatoes
- Basic gravy (makes 2 to 2 1/2 cups):
- 2 cups beef stock
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 2 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Lightly grease roasting pan. Place lamb in pan. Combine oil, rosemary and garlic in a bowl. Rub half the oil mixture over lamb. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Roast lamb, basting with remaining oil mixture every 20 minutes, for 1 hour 15 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking. Add potatoes to pan for last 40 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.
- Remove lamb from oven. Cover loosely with foil. Stand for 10 minutes. Carve. Serve with potatoes.
- Basic Gravy: Transfer meat (and any vegetables) to a plate to rest. Combine stock and wine in a jug. Skim fat from roasting pan, leaving 1 1/2 tablespoons pan juices and fat in pan. Place pan over high heat. Add flour. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture bubbles and becomes golden. Add juices from resting meat. Slowly add stock mixture to pan, stirring constantly. Cook, scraping pan, for 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened.