From Banghoek home-farm, 2020 displays the most intensity, breadth & structure of the chardonnays,
even in riper year. Riveting freshness & zesty, lingering mandarin flavours to the fore, a perfect foil
for serious oaking, 50% new. More expressive in youth than 2019 (95 pts), as distinguished & age
worthy.

Classically styled, as ever, even more structured in fine 2021 vintage. Fruit from five W Cape sites,
barrel fermented/10 months (as Fijnbosch), 40% new, adding toasty enhancement to bright, tangy
citrus & ripe pear flavours, thrilling intensity & freshness. A youthful beauty that deserves cellaring

Mostly brought-in Stellenbosch fruit plus Fijnbosch grapes in 2022. Sleek, succulent, with gentle
greengage, melon & citrus notes. Layers of flavour, creamy lees & toasty nuances from intricate
vinification in array of vessels: oak barrel, 30% new, foudre & ceramic pot. All elements in harmony,
elegantly styled & already tempting but with greater rewards for the patient.

La Crema Cabernet is from Sonoma and it is a potpourrie of scents. The wine had lots of black berry and medium tannins. It can go with a variety of meats and sauces. $45

Composed of fruit from carefully selected, sustainably farmed vineyard blocks across Alexander Mountain, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and Bennet Valley, La Crema’s cab exhibits a velvety mouthfeel and ripe berry flavors. It is approachable, in both sipping and price point, yet bold enough to stand up to the Thanksgiving spread and discerning guests. Notes of blackberry, cocoa, and a supporting touch of oak bring out the savory flavors in roasted vegetables and an array of meats like pork and lamb, making it a versatile choice for the table.

Blackberry and leather aromas with juicy black cherry and blueberry flavors with a dash of espresso.

Known for its pinot noir and chardonnay, La Crema has now stepped into the world with its debut edition of cabernet sauvignon. Drawing grapes from several appellations, it has solid and well-integrated structure with plum aromas and juicy black cherry flavors with a hint of coffee.

a gem hailing from the remote, western reaches of the Anderson Valley along Greenwood Ridge. With some of the oldest vines and one of the region’s coolest climates, this exceptional site delivers a fresh, mineral-driven Chardonnay that’s as delicious as it is versatile—a wine crafted to shine at the tab

textural and flinty, with a depth of stone fruit richness, as the name suggests, this is one of the winery’s longest standing, most esteemed vineyard estates and will wow red and white wine drinkers alike

f you think Californian Chardonnay is all about oaky, buttery wines at 15 per cent alcohol, try this. Made from vines over 40 years old, with just a touch of oak, this is more like a Chablis in style than most Californians: taut, elegant and retrained, but with nice apple and pear fruit and quite long

this is world-class South African Chardonnay made from grapes from two mountain vineyards, with 10 months in French oak. Bright citrus flavours and creamy depth, beautifully balanced and long

leading with Cabernet Sauvignon, this classic, oft 100-point wine also carries within its textural soul a good percentage of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a handful of Petit Verdot; this is a treat-yourself wine, and no one would be the wiser if you choose not to share

Enjoyment of this special wine begins with admiring its notable hue and complex nose, followed by its strength, heavy body, balance and additional excellence on the palate.

Quite a treat to taste a McLaren Vale Cab like this one, which is just beginning to shift and settle into the mellow comfort of maturity. Red plums and black pu-erh tea, roasted-bone-marrow earthiness and sun-dried-tomato sweetness. Camphor notes of freshness. The tannins a swag of heavy silk. Autumnal leafiness shaping the finish. (TC).

Developing gentle gaminess and tamari-umami underlay, but the fruit is still succulent, red, very gently tea-leaf smoked. Iron and iodine, Sichuan-pepper lift and fragrance. The tannins are beautifully resolved, curving around the fruit and layers of flavour like an aggregate of slender fibres. In a lovely place to drink right now. (TC).

Smells like that moment when you're bubbling strawberries in a pot and suddenly the kitchen is filled with the knee-buckling heady joy of strawberry jam. Wonderful layers of velvet-kiss, scarlet-lip, ruby-pool, indigo-ink-stained fruit and husky, dusky tones of coffee, cocoa husk, star anise. Tannins like an ensemble of cellos. It tastes disarmingly easy and ready and arms-wide-open. Deceptively easy, because this is a beautifully made wine and there is nothing simple about this jewelled Grenache. (TC)

Egregiously heavy bottle. Complex blend and winemaking! Despite four years in bottle, it smells as youthful and fruity as a one-year-old wine. It smells like a bowl of fresh quinces, like daffodils, like wet chalk and bergamot and yuzu cordial. So fresh! And so fresh on the palate as well, although here that hint of wet chalk becomes structural and mineral, taking shape and deepening the curved carve of acidity, drawing the white-yellow notes of the fruit into length, allowing tiny white and yellow flowers to dance on the edges, just out of sight. There is absolutely no hurry to drink this wine that tastes as if it hasn't even begun to get going. (TC).

Transparent garnet. Delicate earthy nose followed by surprisingly full-on strawberry fruit. Still quite youthful with good acidity and smooth texture. I’d wait until at least 2025 to enjoy this but there’s no excess sweetness and hardly a trace of oak. Long. A bit of a charmer but less forward that its Bastard Hill stablemate. (JR).

Tense, intense nose with marked acidity promised. Gosh, and there is it on the palate! Stony texture and extremely youthful. Hovering somewhere between lemon and grapefruit flavours. It certainly has potential but I’d leave it alone for at least a year. (JR).