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Unit Volume: 1500ml

Cultivars:
Pinot Noir (100%)

Nose: This bottling is rich with luscious soft tannins and dark-colored forest fruit aromas on the nose.

Palate: Deftly balanced on a cord of lingering plum and raspberry delights. Expected to age with appealing composure.

Notes: Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noirs are clearly terroir driven by the knowing impact of our heavy Malmesbury Shale soils, which impart firm structure and robust flavor statements in each vintage. This flavor quality is further enhanced by our practice of implementing high- density closely planted vines to encourage competition between individual vines! Bouchard Finlayson was awarded the Trophy for the Wine of the Year in this year for the Galpin Peak Pinot Noir, scoring 97,5 % in the newly launched web based South African Supérieur Wine Rating Index (SASWRI) – a non-vintage rating.

Awards & Ratings:
Wine Spectator 92/100
Wine Enthusiast 90/100
John Platter ***1/2

Unit Price: R 1200.00

Units available: 2

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Cabernet Sauvignon
Carignan
Cinsault

Nose: A nose of mature fruits, plums, cherries, figs, cinnamon and cloves.

Palate: Typical Musar on the palate although with lots of youthful exuberance, very sappy and substantial too, richly imbued with structure.

Notes: The grapes are hand-picked as the sun rises across the Bekaa valley and are then swiftly transferred to the cellar in Ghazir where fermentation takes place followed by maceration lasting 2 to 4 weeks. During the first year the wine is racked into Bordeaux type barrels made from Nevers oak and where it matures from 12 to 15 months.

Awards & Ratings:
Robert Parker 91/100
Wine Spectator 90/100
Jancis Robinson 16/20

Unit Price: R 1100.00

Units available: 5

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Pinot Noir (100%)

Nose: Oak notes dominate the bouquet with some light vanilla whiffs and bruised strawberry aromas.

Palate: This is a concentrated Pinot and it tasted a little tight and closed however gives an impression it will settle down nicely in a few years. Good use of new oak, plenty of black cherry and a hint of secondary development.

Notes: Inspired by Nature and meticulously crafted by cellar master Jean-Claude Martin, each single-vineyard wine in this range is the ultimate expression of its terroir and indeed an exquisite and multifaceted artwork in its own right. 30% whole bunch fermented – only 1200 individually numbered bottles available.

Awards & Ratings:
Tim Atkin 92/100

Unit Price: R 1800.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Chardonnay (100%)

Nose: A magnificent composition of warm butterscotch and almond intertwines with fresh lime and delicate quince on the nose.

Palate: Complex yet elegant on the exquisitely balanced palate where rich vanilla pod and peach kernel are contrasted by vivacious pear and bracing minerality.

Notes: Inspired by Nature and meticulously crafted by cellarmaster Jean-Claude Martin, each single-vineyard wine in this range is the ultimate expression of its terroir and indeed an exquisite and multifaceted artwork in its own right. The 2014 Art of Creation Chardonnay is described as ‘the ultimate expression of place and provenance’. The grapes were whole bunch pressed and only 3 120 individually numbered bottles were released.

Awards & Ratings:
Tim Atkin 94/100

Unit Price: R 1800.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Shiraz (80%)
Mourvedre / Grenache (20%)

Nose: Ripe and rich aromas and flavors of cherries, strawberries, blackberries and a hint of leather, cloves and cardamom.

Palate: A fresh and textured palate. There is a lovely combination of edgy tannin and lively fruit giving the wine life and vibrancy.

Notes: The grapes used in the 2012 Paradisum originate from both the Swartland and the Hemel en Aarde Valley. The Swartland Syrah portion is bio dynamically farmed and planted on decomposed granite while the Grenache and Mourvedre portions are grown on heavy clay shale soils in the Hemel en Aarde Valley. The Syrah and Mourvedre portions were de-stemmed with 50% left as whole cluster, with the fermentation occurring naturally and with minimal intervention. The Grenache portion was fermented 100% whole cluster. 14 Months in 10% new oak barrels.

Unit Price: R 650.00

Units available: 9

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Chenin Blanc (100%)

Nose: White and yellow peach aromas with a hint of pineapple and spice on the nose.

Palate: A pleasantly oxidative note as well – a longer ferment due to the grapes coming off nitrogen-poor soils. Rich and full with a long finish.

Notes: David and Nadia Sadie are now full time Swartland winemakers where they’ve secured a piece of land they can call their own. Their new Paardebosch project is a farm-focused project based on old vineyards, steep mountain granite soils and mainly bush vines situated on the Paardebosch farm itself. They have now also added three limited-edition, ultra-premium wines to their portfolio. The Skaliekop Chenin Blanc is from a shale vineyard planted in 1985 on Paardebosch. Total production: 300 litres.

Awards & Ratings:
Christian Eedes 93/100

Unit Price: R 1200.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Sémillon (100%)

Nose: On the nose you will find notes of peach, a certain grapiness, with hints of earth and thatch.

Palate: Pure fruit and moderate acidity on the palate, arguably a bit short on the finish. Not perfect, but certainly intriguing.

Notes: David and Nadia Sadie are now full time Swartland winemakers where they’ve secured a piece of land they can call their own. Their new Paardebosch project is a farm-focused project based on old vineyards, steep mountain granite soils and mainly bush vines situated on the Paardebosch farm itself. The Perdekamp Sémillon is from a decomposed granite vineyard between 40 and 45 years old on Paardebosch were the Sadies are now based. Skin contact for six days; spontaneous ferment in tank before being matured for 10 months in a neutral 300-litre barrel.

Awards & Ratings:
Christian Eedes 90/100

Unit Price: R 920.00

Units available: 9

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Chenin Blanc (100%)

Nose: The nose is very aromatic with notes of lemon and peach - showing a pure fresh fruit profile.

Palate: Lean with pure fruit and lovely fresh acidity. Pure and focused with a pithy, even bitter finish.

Notes: David and Nadia Sadie are now full time Swartland winemakers where they’ve secured a piece of land they can call their own. Their new Paardebosch project is a farm-focused project based on old vineyards, steep mountain granite soils and mainly bush vines situated on the Paardebosch farm itself. They have now also added three limited-edition, ultra-premium wines to their portfolio. The Hoë-Steen Chenin Blanc is from a 1966 vineyard planted on mixed soils between Malmesbury and Darling. Total production: 600 litres.

Awards & Ratings:
Christian Eedes 93/100
John Platter *****

Unit Price: R 920.00

Units available: 9

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Chardonnay (100%)

Nose: Nuanced and stylish, with a beautifully ripe peach and floral notes,with lovely minerality.

Palate: Clean, with good acidity and minerality and a refreshing lemon note on the finish.

Notes: Domaine Marc Morey is run by Bernard Mollard and his wife, Marc Morey's daughter. The old cellar lies under a magnificent home, which was a former coaching inn and Marc Morey's family home for 100 years. A few years ago Mr. Mollard began a négociant business but this Rully is more like the quality of a Domaine wine.

Unit Price: R 800.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Poulsard (100%)

Nose: Spicy nose with aromas of strawberries, cherries, blueberries and empyreumatic notes - reveals peppery notes with a background of baked orange.

Palate: Intensely fruity, smooth and light on the palate, the wine continues to delight, recalling the notes of orange and complemented with delicate peony aromas.

Notes: Poulsard is probably the oldest grape variety specific to the Jura and gives its fullest expression on red marls. This wine is grown on red marls around Gaillard and Chagnon in Montigny, is fermented and and aged 18 months in large neutral barrels before bottling.

Unit Price: R 380.00

Units available: 3

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Savagnin
Chardonnay
Marc Brandy

Nose: Aromas of confit and raisins are very present, with a note of vivacity brought by the grape variety.

Palate: A lot of fat and presence with good persistence and a good balance between sugar and alcohol.

Notes: The Macvin Jura is recognized as Denomination of Origin Controlled by the Decree of 14 November 1991. Two other fortified wines classified in AOC exist in France: the Pineau des Charentes and Floc de Gascogne. Consists of 2/3 wine unfiltered must of Savagnin and Chardonnay grapes and 1/3 marc brandy (Eau de Franche-Comté marc spirit) - aged for 24 months in small oak barrels.

Unit Price: R 550.00

Units available: 5

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Pinot Gris (100%)

Nose: The nose is pleasant, frank and displays a dominant of candied scents of botrytis, honey, candied fruits, apricot, cooked apples and caramel. Aeration enhances the whole and reveals spices.

Palate: The palate is ample and liquorish with a well balanced alcoholic base. It has a range of complex flavours from caramel to toast, candied fruits, apricots, honey with a beautiful lengthy finish.

Notes: The grapes were hand-harvested from the east-facing Grand Cru Spiegel plot and slowly pressed. Fermented in tuns for 3 months and left untill spring before bottling, the wine was stored for several years before release. Only made in the best years. Late-harvested, Selections de Grains Nobles Pinot Gris wines are sumptuous and improve by becoming finer in time. Cuvée Clarisse is a very rare wine. Before 2000 it was only produced in 1964, 1989, 1997, and 1998.

Awards & Ratings:
Wine Spectator 89/100
Wine Enthusiast 90/100

Unit Price: R 1200.00

Units available: 3

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Chardonnay (100%)

Nose: Powerful, expressive aromas of apricot and candied fruits.

Palate: The palate is long and rich, revealing pure oxidation that is perfectly controlled and prettily bitter. A remarkable wine, with no sugar - only alcoholic sugar!

Notes: Tasted with Dominique in Montreal, Gascony, on 09 June 2012. Dominique Andiran is a former ski and sailing instructor that used to work in his uncle's vineyards during off seasons. In 1988, he decided to settle in the Gers to give free rein to his passion and finally in 2001 released his first vintage. According to Dominique, fermentation and aging in barrel took 6 years for this wine. He only bottled 800 bottles.

Unit Price: R 950.00

Units available: 2

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 1500ml

Cultivars:
Chardonnay (100%)

Nose: The rich aroma of the wine first disclosed tones of fresh white fruit - pear, apple, quince, and then replace it with bright fruity notes with a dominant note of orange peel.

Palate: The palate is fresh, robust and reveals a remarkable vinosity. The finish is round, smooth, and emphasizes the richness of the wine.

Notes: Jules Lassalle established this family-owned Champagne house in 1942 in the village of Chigny-Les-Roses on the Montagne de Reims. When he passed away in 1982 his wife, Olga, and their daughter, Chantal Decelle-Lassalle, stepped in and took over the estate. In 2006 Chantal’s daughter, Angéline Templier, joined the estate as winemaker. Their twenty-eight-year tradition of “une femme, un esprit, un style” (one woman, one spirit, one style) holds true today more than ever. This champagne is made of 100% 1er Cru Chardonnay from the village, from vines with an average of 50 years of age. Aged a minimum of 9 years on the lees before disgorgement.

Awards & Ratings:
Gault & Millau 15.5/20

Unit Price: R 2995.00

Units available: 2

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 375ml

Cultivars:
Pinotage (100%)

Nose: Red and black cherry aromas plus some some forest floor character on the nose.

Palate: Fully mature but still very much alive. Striking fruit purity – not unlike Pinot Noir but possessing more weight. Rich but balanced thanks to bright acidity.

Notes: Lanzerac is the home of the worlds first bottled Pinotage in 1959. Situated on the outskirts of the historic town of Stellenbosch, the Lanzerac Estate is a 300 year old private working wine estate in the Jonkershoek Valley.

Awards & Ratings:
Christian Eedes 90/100

Unit Price: R 2320.00

Units available: 3

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Syrah (100%)

Nose: The Lismore Estate Reserve Syrah is elegant, perfumed and bright, with notes of white pepper, classic garrigue and perfumed floral notes of crushed violets.

Palate: The palate shows extraordinary purity and freshness while the tannins are super-fine. Lovely fruit upfront before an intensely savoury finish. It’s sophisticated but not too severe and gives real pleasure.

Notes: The wines are produced from very low yielding vines. The vineyard is planted at 300 metres above sea level, in the foothills of the Sonderend Mountain Range. The vines are grown in decomposed shale over clay soils and are dry farmed, which contributes to the deep concentration in the wine. Low mean temperatures during February contribute to an extended ripening period, resulting in a harvest period which can be three to four weeks later than traditional wine growing regions in South Africa. Vinified using minimal intervention, allowing the wine showcase this special terroir. 40% of the grapes were whole bunch pressed, and the juice was slowly extracted. The juice was cold settled for 48 hours followed by fermentation with a 28 extended maceration to ensure the desired level of extraction and structure was imparted. The wine was matured in 500 litre Burgundian barrels of which 35% were new for 11 months.

Awards & Ratings:
Christian Eedes 97/100
Tim Atkin 95/100
Jancis Robinson 18/20

Unit Price: R 995.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Viognier (100%)

Nose: The expression on the nose is of dried apricot and fresh ginger with hints of honeysuckle.

Palate: The rich and concentrated palate is beautifully balanced by a refreshing finish.

Notes: Having pioneered a new extreme cool climate region in South Africa, Samantha chose to release an Estate Reserve range to illustrate what the vineyards are capable of. The wines are produced from very low yielding vines and taste like no others grown in South Africa. The vineyard is planted at 300 metres above sea level, in the foothills of the Sonderend Mountain Range. The vines are grown in decomposed shale over clay soils which contributes to the deep concentration in the wine. The vines are dry farmed. Low mean temperatures during February contribute to an extended ripening period, resulting in a harvest period which can be three to four weeks later than traditional wine growing regions in South Africa. The intense citrus notes and the lingering finish are consistent trademarks of Lismore's specific terroir. Vinified using minimal intervention, allowing the wine to showcase this special terroir. The grapes were whole bunch pressed, slowly extracting the juice at a rate of 600 litres per tonne. The juice was cold settled for 48 hours and then racked into 225 and 500 litre Burgundian barrels of which 30% were new, for spontaneous and natural fermentation and 18 months' maturation.

Awards & Ratings:
Jancis Robinson 17/20
Tim Atkin 94/100

Unit Price: R 795.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Shiraz (100%)

Nose: Rich vibrant fruit, mostly plums and mulberries, dark chocolate and hints of wooding.

Palate: The palate is rich and silky with savory, ripe plums and subtle hints of spice and cinnamon on the lingering finish.

Notes: The 2008 Shiraz comes from three vineyards in the Bot River and in Stellenbosch. Niels and Penny Verburg have just released their 9th vintage: Luddite Shiraz 2008. The Luddite trend of warmer vintages in the even-numbered years follows through in the 2008, which translates as a fuller style with rich, dark fruit – certainly a vintage for carnivores! And it’s because Niels and Penny favor a dry-land approach (no irrigation) that the vagaries of each harvest reflect so clearly in the Luddite vintages. It’s also the last vintage to be made in a rented cellar space. In other words, the last time Niels had to drive up the long Highlands road to do punch downs in the middle of the night! Malolactic fermentation took place on the skins where after the wine was pressed and put into 95% French Oak and 5% Hungarian Oak barrels. 30% of these barrels were new with the rest being 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill. The wine remained in barrels for 18 months after which the wine was lightly filtered and bottled.

Awards & Ratings:
John Platter ****1/2
Tim Atkin 92/100

Unit Price: R 595.00

Units available: 2

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Shiraz
Cabernet Sauvignon
Mourvedre

Nose: Spice-driven dark fruit with hints of licorice, cinnamon, plum, violets and toasty wood.

Palate: Brooding dark fruit and spice. Rich, natural, sweet fruit core. Big mouth feel, lingering balanced tannins on the finish.

Notes: A “Luddite” is a term describing those opposed to, or slow to adopt or incorporate into their lifestyle new technologies in general. Niels Verburg and his wife Penny carry this philosophy through to their farming and wine making by producing wines that are as natural as possible, with little intervention or mechanization. ‘Saboteur was born out of a dilemma we face every vintage, that is - what to do with the good wine that just doesn’t suit the style of the Luddite Shiraz? So we created a wine with which we can express innovative blends, such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre, and christened it Saboteur. After malolactic fermentation all three varietals were kept separate in 100% new French oak. The wine remained in barrels for 24 months after which they blended all the different varietals together to create the best possible wine. The blending process took place over five months to make sure that they had the correct balance.

Awards & Ratings:
John Platter ****1/2

Unit Price: R 395.00

Units available: 6

Units Purchased:

Unit Volume: 750ml

Cultivars:
Friulano (100%)

Nose: Elegantly woven tapestry of ripe stone fruit aromas with hints of flowers and a rocky minerality.

Palate: The 2011 Tocai Friulano Buri is memorably delicious. It is a ripe, exuberant offering with plenty of citrus intensity, great energy, mineral sapidity, with a long and supremely harmonious finish.

Notes: This is a single vineyard selection Buri Tocai Friulano from the famed cult classic estate of Miani. The wines are aged in French oak (roughly 40% new) and the malolactic fermentations are typically blocked.

Unit Price: R 1995.00

Units available: 2

Units Purchased: