2020 MR de Compostella

Full bottle an unnecessarily heavy 1,658 g, but it's good wine! A joint venture between Mzokhona Mvemve and the Raats family. Blend of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Vines aged between nine and 22 years on decomposed dolomite granite and Table Mountain sandstone soils. Yield was 3.0–3.5 ton/ha. Apparently the aim with this wine was to take each of the five components and make a varietal wine in its own right. The wines were then tasted blind after one year in barrel. The wines that scored less than 90 points were not considered for the final blend, whose assemblage was determined by the scores in this blind tasting. The name of the resultant blend is De Compostella (The Compilation of Stars). One of the most highly rated red blends in South Africa. Bright garnet. Much mellower on the palate than the Raats Jasper 2020 tasted alongside. Really nicely balanced for current drinking. Great vivacity and a fully integrated blend with a Cabernet signature and perfume and no excess sweetness of oak. Long. Impressive. I see that in the past I have found young examples of this wine pretty embryonic but this 2020 is already pretty gorgeous. Just a shame about the bottle weight! (JR)

The 2020 MR de Compostella is a blend of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot matured in 1st, 2nd and 3rd fill barrels for 24 months. It has a stunning nose with effortlessly pure black cherry, boysenberry and raspberry fruit, seamlessly interlaced with the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with an intense opening, layers of red fruit, spicebox, cracked black pepper and graphite. There is a huge structure to this Compostella but with immense salinity and finesse on the finish. It will need three to four years in bottle, but it is a tremendous wine (again).