South Africa: New releases

We first tried the 2021 Secateurs red at a wedding on Adi's farm in November 2021: it's hard to explain just how easy this is to drink.

A blend of Shiraz, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Mourvedre and Grenache, it's so juicy, fine boned, and fresh. Brilliant.

A blend of Syrah, Cinsault and Grenache, with multiple other varieties, co-fermented alongside. This is wonderfully pure and complex, and there’s lots of energy and freshness here, and a fine and mineral finish.

Under a hectare of huge, old Grenache vines, planted in 1952, on the entry to Kalmoesfontein. This is the Cape’s oldest Grenache, and the resulting wine is astonishingly good. Floral and pure, with amazing tension on the palate, and such minerality on the finish. Bravo.

A vineyard planted on Kalmoesfontein in 1954, this is a beautifully complex, savoury, well-balanced Cinsault. There’s notes of rose petal and a core of blue fruit. Delicious.

Tinta Barocca has huge potential in the Swartland, this parcel, planted in 1972, shows it beautifully. There’s notes of iron oxide and black pudding, with a core of dark fruit. Structured and intense, this will age brilliantly.

A Cabernet Franc led blend, this is one of the best bargains on our list. Loads of ripe, juicy fruit, fine-grained tannins, and a mouth-watering freshness, having a bottle to hand is a must.

Caro is the Argentina project for the Rothschilds of Chateau Lafite, along with the pioneering Catena family. The nose is complex with aromas of red fruits, figs, and gentle notes of blue berries. On the palate the wine is round with soft tannins and refreshing acidity, displaying good density and persistence, well balanced. 2021 is the coolest vintage Mendoza has seen in years, and the result is one of the freshest, most vibrant Malbec blends we've tried.

A staple of Pieter’s range, and a brilliant value wine, this is a blend of all sorts: Swartland Grenache, Wellington Grenache, Breedekloof Cinsaut, Elgin Pinot Noir, Swartland Chenin Blanc, Swartland Fernao Pirez, Stellenbosch Chardonnay and Stellenbosch Pinotage. The name refers to the fact that working with 38 grape varieties from 60 vineyards, it’s impossible to be a master of all. Rather, Pieter and his team are happy to tell stories, and be Master of None. This is a delicious wine, with tons of energy, floral top notes, and a core of crunchy red fruit. There’s spice on the mineral finish. The perfect everyday red. Try this at cellar temperature.

Prausis biodynamically farmed Voor Paardeberg Shiraz, with a little Pinotage from Darling in the blend. It’s juicy and just so drinkable.

The story of Retirement @ 65 is now well known: it’s one of our favourite wines from Pieter. It was a Cinsault vineyard which only started to be productive at 65 years of age, thanks to Pieter’s efforts to outsmart the baboons, sheep, and birds that would always come and eat the grapes. An old vineyard Cinsault, from the same farm as Duncan Savage’s Follow the Line, this is so complex and delicious, with an added savouriness and complexity to it. Brilliant in 2021.

From a high altitude Syrah vineyard on the Ceres plateau (where Pieter sees a huge potential for grape growing in general), and it’s one of the Cape’s best cool climate Syrahs. There’s so much energy here, with just the right amount of peppery complexity, and a fine thread of acidity throughout. Brilliantly balanced, and wonderfully long.

This is a tiny production Tinta Barocca from the Swartland, that Pieter, in his inimitable wisdom, decided to only bottle in half bottles. It’s name means absent minded, and comes from the fact that the day Pieter went to pick this vineyard, he realised half way there that he hadn’t put his shoes on. Hence the label, too. It’s a brilliant example of this grape variety, that we reckon is one of the Swartland’s most exciting. Textured and bloody, with a core of dark fruit, and lovely energy. One of the best reds we’ve tried from Pieter.

Praus is biodynamically farmed Voor Paardeberg Shiraz, with a little Pinotage from Darling in the blend. It’s juicy and and utterly delicious; the perfect wine to enjoy in big bottle format.

A blend of 55% Cabernet franc with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot - all from the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. Pieter discovered these vineyards by keeping an eye out for pickers wearing white surgical gloves - those being employed by estates with the deepest pockets for vineyard research - and then buying grapes from as close by as possible. This is a lovely red Bordeaux blend from the Cape, with lots of brambly fruit, super-fine tannins, and a long and precise finish. Pieter’s Bordeaux blends get better and better.

The 2019 Syrah from Boekenhoutskloof comes from the Goldmine property, planted on brown schist, and Porseleinberg, on blue schist. The resulting wine is wonderfully perfumed - like great Côte-Rôtie - but with a touch of added ripeness. There’s dark berry fruit and a hint of tapenade, and then silky tannins that last an age. This is an astonishingly good Syrah from the team at Boekenhoutskloof.

The Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon blew us away when we tasted it this year. From three vineyards on the Helderberg, and one on the granite of the Polkedraai, this has floral lift and dark cassis, and then just a hint of dried thyme and black olive. It’s a new benchmark for this wine: it’s not to be missed. A match for cru classé Bordeaux, without a doubt.

From the Boekenhoutskloof property Goldmine, on the Kasteelberg, next to the Mullineux’s Roundstone, this is a brilliant Schist-based Syrah. It’s as elegant as Syrah in the Swartland gets: peppery, floral, and beautifully fine-boned. Incredible length and savouriness define the long finish. This is a delicious, charming wine.

A blend of 71% Syrah, 11% Grenache, 9% Cinsault, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and just a dash of Viognier, the 2019 Chocolate Block is a wonderfully pure, elegant expression from the heart of the Swartland. Red berry fruit and wild flowers drift from the glass, while the palate shows crystalline purity and a beautifully mineral finish. It punches way above its weight: that they manage to produce this in such quantities is one of the wonders of the wine world.