Spring Clean Day Three

A unique wine in our South Africa offer, this is mainly Roussanne, with a drop of Chardonnay. It's all about texture and bright fruit. Roussanne can be a little heavy, but there's none of that here: it's savoury and fresh, with just a hint of herbal lift.

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.

The Full Moon White is a field blend from a single vineyard on the Swartland’s Uitkyk farm, a farm where plenty of others source grapes. Just a handful of bottles are made of this blend of Chenin, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay, from a 45 year old vineyard. Lovely weight on the palate, and plenty of energy. Delicious.

The style that Andre has made his own, this is an ageworthy white, with lots of bright yellow fruit, a savoury character to the palate, and also lots of energy. This is surely a match for Andre's old baby, the GVB from Vergelegen.

From grapes from the Vergelegen estate, this is an impressive Bordeaux blend. Notes of graphite and a core of dark fruit, with lots of spice and a hint of smokiness. Already approachable and delicious, this will surely age well, too.

65% Syrah, 22% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache, and the remainder Viognier. They use some whole bunches here and age the wine in 50% new French oak. Complex and rich on the nose with black berry furit, raspberry and wild strawberry, as well as white pepper, baking spice and some blueberry fragrant elements. Incredibly complex on the palate too with rich, deep, black fruit flavours and lots of spicy notes. Concentrated and velvet-like on the palate, with enough firm structure to age for decades.

78% Grenache, 12% Mourvèdre, and 10% Syrah, aged in 50% new oak, this brilliant 2020 has a complex nose with red cherry, ripe strawberry, rose petals, white pepper and incense. It's hedonistic and bold on the palate, layered and as complex as the nose, with a velvet quality to the tannins already. Only 400 cases made.

Kashy Khaledi was once Creative Director for Capitol Records, before he founded Ashes & Diamonds, where he collaborates with superstar winemakers like Diana Snowden-Seysses (of Domaine Dujac and Snowden Vineyards) and Steve Matthiasson, using fruit from fantastic California vineyards. It's Diana who makes this, the Mountain Cuvée from Bates Ranch vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This is an historic, four-generation-old ranch in the same area of the famous Ridge Monte Bello. The Cabernet grows at 2,100 ft above sea level, and the steep slopes here, along with cool breezes, keep the vines in check, and the result is a vibrant, elegant, restrained style of wine, with plenty of herbal, savoury character alongside the plump black fruit. They use a combination of American and French oak to add layers of sweet spice and cedar notes.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon made by Diana Snowden Seysses of Domaine Dujac. This is made from fruit sourced from the biodynamically farmed Red Hen Vineyard, owned by Bart and Daphne Araujo in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. It's elegant in style, with silky tannins and a notable forest floor, earthy complexity around the bright red fruit. There are tobacco and cedar flavours in the background and a breadth across the palate towards the finish.

Now owned by the same team as Penfolds, Beaulieu Vineyards is famous for being one of the first Napa Cabernets back in the 1930s, located on the main highway nearby Opus One and the Robert Mondavi Winery. This 2019 vintage is beautifully rich and spicy, with graphite notes and very ultra-fine tannins. An absolutely classic Napa Cabernet.

2021 marks the 15th bottling of The Bedrock Heritage, a wine that has become Bedrock Wine Co’s Morgan Twain-Peterson MW and Chris Cottrell’s most emblematic cuvée. Though it’s based on Zinfandel, The Bedrock Heritage is a field blend of over 20 different grape varieties, and includes ancient vine parcels from the Bedrock vineyard that were originally planted in 1888. Coffee and black fruit aromas jump out of the glass, while its varied and utterly hypnotic spice notes could put Delhi’s Khari Baoli spice market to shame. Beguiling and delicious.

From a vineyard that only really started being productive at the age of 65, this is so lifted and pure. It's one of the best examples of Cinsault we know of in South Africa. Just so delicious.

A cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon, with very refined tannins, a little clove spice and lifted lavender notes, and a lovely core of dark fruit. Pieter is so talented when it comes to this grape variety.

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.

Ultra, meanwhile, takes its name from the farmer’s love of trance music - and more specifically a gig named Ultra. It’s a Chenin Blanc from the Swartland, and is generous, textured, and astonishingly good value.

Aasvoel is Verdelho, from a single plot in Stellenbosch, that Pieter’s always desperate to get his hands on. So much so, that he feels like a vulture - Aasvoel in Afrikaans - waiting to pick over the vineyard. It's a textured, mouth filling white, but with loads of focussed energy.

Brazen is a blend of Fernao Pires - from 37 year old vineyards in the Swartland - alongside amphora-aged Palomino from a 47 year old vineyard in Piekenierskloof, and Grenache Blanc from the Voor Paardeberg. It’s a savoury, textured, vibrant white, with a mineral finish that lasts for minutes.

The new vintage of Chocolate Block shows how this gets better and better. A core of Syrah, from Boekenhoutskloof's properties in the Swartland, this is intense, structured, but also approachable. Such a no-brainer at this price. Also watch how it ages.

The new vintage of Chocolate Block shows how this gets better and better. A core of Syrah, from Boekenhoutskloof's properties in the Swartland, this is intense, structured, but also approachable. Such a no-brainer at this price. Also watch how it ages.