SIZE

12 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $19.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Humberto Canale

VINTAGE

2021

COLOUR

Red

REGION, COUNTRY

Patagonia, Argentina

GRAPE

Malbec

 

Winemaker Notes

The grapes for this wine come from vineyards in General Roca, Alto Valle de Río Negro, Patagonia. The grapes are harvested manually in 20kg cans during the first week of April. They undergo cold pre-fermentation maceration for 48 hours, alcoholic fermentation at controlled temperature in cement vessels of 9,000 liters capacity for a period of 12 days with periodic pump-overs and de-staging. After the malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged and preserved until bottling. Aging period in the bottle is for 3 months.

The wine is an intense red with violet tints and aromas of small red fruits. From the Patagonian mountain range, this wine has notes of cassis, raspberry, plum and mint. It is well-balanced, with soft tannins, velvety and very fruity. 

SIZE

12 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $18.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Bruce Jack

VINTAGE

2022

COLOUR

Red

SUB-REGION, REGION, COUNTRY

Breedelkloof Valley, Western Cape, South Africa

GRAPE

Pinotage, Malbec

Winemaker Notes

Many believe the best Pinotage in the world comes from the Breedekloof Valley. It is certainly one of the most awarded varieties from this area. We love the fresh, intense cherry and dark chocolate aromas. The juicy soft palate is framed by warming vanilla and touch of oak.

SIZE

12 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $24.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Humberto Canale

VINTAGE

2021

COLOUR

Red

REGION, COUNTRY

Patagonia, Argentina

GRAPE

Malbec

 

90 Points, Vinous

The 2020 Malbec Estate was 15% aged in French barrels. The open nose of red fruit offers hints of plum and violets. The tannins are sharp in the mouth but refined, and the freshness is precise before the red fruit returns at the end. A more cosmopolitan profile than previous versions.

Winemaker Notes

A pure expression of Patagonian “Terroir” and Argentinian Malbec. A refined and complex style both in the nose and in the mouth. Its just step through oak gives it an extra dimension that makes it an irresistible wine. A great wine, with structure, intense ruby red color, with amazing notes of red fruits, eucalyptus, spices and black peppers. After a year in bottle it becomes unctuous, intense, concentrated.

SIZE

12 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $31.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Finca Decero

VINTAGE

2019

COLOUR

Red

SUB-REGION, REGION, COUNTRY

Angleo, Mendoza, Argentina

GRAPE

Malbec

 

SIZE

6 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $43.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Raats Family Wines

VINTAGE

2021

COLOUR

Red

REGION, COUNTRY

Stellenbosch, South Africa

GRAPE

Cabernet Franc, Malbec, MERLOT, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot

 

Winemaker Notes

Exceptionally intense and complex on the nose with blackberry, black cherry and bramble in abundance and subtle hints of forest floor, dark chocolate, aniseed and spicy tobacco. The walk in the Black Forest continues with blue and blackberry dancing on a tight rope with focus and concentration, following through onto a perfectly balanced, fine-grained, velvety palate. The finish lingers with hints of fresh mint, cinnamon and perfume. Complex and structured.

SIZE

12 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $16.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Viña Dona Paula

VINTAGE

2022

COLOUR

Red

REGION, COUNTRY

Mendoza, Argentina

GRAPE

Malbec

 

Winemaker Notes

Intense purplish red color. Sweet, spicy and intense aromas, with notes of red fruits and herbs (such as Herbes de Provence). In the mouth, this wine is soft, velvety, fresh, and well balanced.

SIZE

6 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $41.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Drift Estate

VINTAGE

2017

COLOUR

Red

REGION, COUNTRY

Overberg Highlands, South Africa

GRAPE

Malbec, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Touriga Nacional, Tannat

 

90 Points, James Suckling

Plums, cloves, dried herbs, black olives and charred bark on the nose. Medium-bodied with creamy tannins. Savory and salty. Plenty of flavor. A blend of shiraz, malbec, tannat and touriga nacional. Drink or hold.

Winemaker Notes

We had been hiking since daybreak. We would have started earlier, but walking in the dark in these mountains is dangerous. There a few perilously steep sections close to the farm and then there are the puffadders and berg adders – almost impossible to see with torchlight on a rocky buck trail.

We stopped first only when the sun burned above our left shoulder. I stripped down to my long-sleeved cotton shirt and glugged icy gulps of water from my partially frozen water bottle. Sweat ran down my face, but I felt strong, my hips and old rugby knees holding up well under the weight of my rucksack.

We reached the first infra-red camera by 8am and Harry got busy replacing the memory card and battery. The western kloof was narrow here with steep granite walls. Through natural illusion it appears to be a cul-de-sac of rock. But we pushed on, scrambling up a small wall of rock and into a hidden hollow that you can’t even discern from Google Earth.

Another hour of scrambling and we had reached the deepest corner of the kloof where it rises suddenly to meet a ridge of granite running at 800m altitude for four kilometres to the west and the east along the mountain.

Hidden behind 6 foot high Protea bushes, which somehow miraculously escaped the last fire, is a flat rock we call “Breakfast Rock”. I packed out the bread-rolls and made breakfast sandwiches with cheese and ripe heirloom tomatoes. We ate them hungrily looking back down the mountain to the estate vineyards and homestead and across the patchwork Overberg Valley to the far purple Riversonderend mountain range in the north.

It is the sort of view that silences one. It is such a visual feast, so awe-inspiringly beautiful that words seem superfluous to the moment.

With this wine we want to capture the essence of this corner of the universe, the spirit and the beauty of this place. We want to paint the landscape with aromas and flavours, and we use wine grapes as our art materials.

SIZE

6 PACK, 750ml BOTTLES, $54.99 EACH

PRODUCER

Drift Estate

VINTAGE

2016

COLOUR

sparkling rose

REGION, COUNTRY

Overberg Highlands, South Africa

GRAPE

Malbec

 

90 Points, James Suckling

A bright orange-pink sparkling with aromas of grapefruit peel, cherries, dried strawberries and biscuits. Saline undertones. Medium-bodied with sharp acidity and medium bubbles. Dry and savory. Drink now.

Winemaker Notes

The sun hesitated and hung above the western mountains, reluctant to lose sight of the valley. This caused earth to suddenly stop its wobbly spin and everything went flying. Cows and sheep and hay bales and trucks went hurtling overhead – flying off over the horizon.

But I was expecting this, because it had happened before. In fact, it happened a lot during spring when the valley was at its most beautiful. I had tied myself to a thick vineyard pole and fastened an ice bucket to my leg with some scrap trellis wire. Carefully placed in the ice bucket was a bottle of Penelope. A champagne flute was strapped to my hand with stretchy, white, electrical tape (because the only other colour I had in the toolbox was yellow and that was obviously going to clash with the colour of the wine). Now I know exactly what you are thinking… “when everything was flying around, how the hell did he keep the bottle in the ice bucket?”

Aha, great question! With an elastic rope tied around the neck, of course. It almost snapped and broke free when earth stopped. My plan would have been dashed had I not also cable-tied the bottle to the ice bucket handle!

Call me OCD, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Now the recent yoga practice came in handy as I bent down, loosened the wire with my spare hand and watched the cork fly out, followed by the wine. I was ready! I managed to catch about half a glass of the torrent, the rest spraying over the vineyard.

And I watched the sun sit there in the amazed sky and it watched me back. At that moment we both knew how beautiful the valley was, but the sun knew I could also taste it.

This wine is a great accompaniment to our Overberg Highland sunsets and as an aperitif before dinner. It is fresh, creamy, with soft red fruit flavours on the palate and aromas of mangosteen and strawberry. It also pairs brilliantly with seafood like sustainably-farmed oysters and abalone.

We pick the vines early to retain the lively natural acidity which will keep the eventual wine fresh for decades. After traditional whole-bunch basket-pressing, we allow the wine to ferment in old barrels. This allows us to build creamy mouthfeel without imparting any wood flavour to the wine. After a few months’ maturation in barrel, the wine is transferred to their bottles for the secondary fermentation, where the CO2 bubbles are entrapped into the wine in the traditional Champagne method.