Wine Advocate (96)

The 2016 Vintage Port is a blend of 43% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca and 17% Alicante Bouschet, with Tinta Amarela and Sousão filling out the rest. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar. If this Quinta has a hallmark to me, it is the expressive, gorgeous fruit. It has a seductive feel, but it is also muscular and intense. It is one of the most muscular in the Symington stable this year, with the concentration to soak up the power. I'd give this the nod for the moment over the 2015, but they are pretty close, granting that I do not have them side by side. They may wind up in more or less the same place overall in the long run. We'll see. That said, this seems superb. Bottled in May 2018 and to be released in October 2018, there were 1,220 cases produced.

Richard Mayson (19)

A blend of 54% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca / Alicante Bouschet (co fermented) and 6% Sousão (for freshness), predominantly from cooler north / north west facing vineyards: Beautifully lifted, scented floral aromas (rose petals), vinous and overt; sweet and suave initially, ripe but gentle blackberry fruit backed by velvety tannins leading to a finish that is both powerful and elegant at the same time. Wonderful freshness and vitality. A magnificent wine for drinking over the medium to long term. Just 965 cases produced representing 3% of the quinta’s total production

Vinous (92)

The 2019 Quinta do Vesuvio comes from a vineyard with a north-facing exposure and foot-trodden. The wine is quite high-toned on the nose with black cherries, blueberry, crushed violet, quince jelly and truffle aromas, a hint of smoke in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, a little angular upon first pouring, though coalescing in the glass. Black pepper and touches of sage furnish the finish that gently fans out, although one gets the impression that it is holding something back. One for more patient Port-lovers. 770 cases produced (13 pipes)

James Suckling (99)

This is an old-vine Port with two-thirds coming from ancient ones. Bark, black tea, crushed grapes and mahogany. Big and grippy. Old, traditional styled Port with incredible depth and power. Big yet polished tannins. This is foot-trodden. Co-fermented. Real deal. 470 cases. Try after 2030.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2022 Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio Vintage Port was closed and tight even after a couple of hours in the glass. It's named after the Chapel vineyard, the first to be replanted in the property after phylloxera. It's a field blend of centenary vines, and the wine also has grapes from other plots, including a younger one planted exclusively with Touriga Franca. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in oak casks for 18 months. It's subtle and with incipient complexity. It has a super balanced palate, with abundant tannins but in great harmony with the rest of the components, coming through as powerful and elegant. It has a beautiful sense of harmony. It takes a long time to open up, and it's not explosive; it keeps the subtleness. I believe this is going to age very well, as it has the components and the balance between them to do so. It has 20% alcohol, a pH of 3.64 and 100 grams of sugar. They produced the equivalent of 5,520 bottles, 4,320 numbered bottles and other formats. It was bottled in 2024.

Quinta Vale Meao Douro 2017 is a benchmark red from Portugal’s Douro, crafted at the storied Quinta Vale Meão estate. Under the Olazabal family, the property is renowned for meticulous vineyard selection and a house style that marries power with precision. The 2017 vintage delivers a dense, dark-fruited core with lifted floral tones, fine-grained spice and a distinctly mineral, Douro savouriness. On the palate it is concentrated yet poised, with layered tannins and a long, tapering finish that speaks to careful élevage and disciplined extraction rather than excess.

Made with an exacting, parcel-led approach, Quinta Vale Meao Douro balances ripe fruit intensity with freshness and structural detail, making it compelling now with decanting, yet built for extended cellaring in serious collections.

Wine Advocate (95)

The backward and undeveloped 2022 Quinta do Vale Meão has all the baby fat, the spicy oak and the tannins that call for time in bottle. The toast from the barrels is still quite noticeable, but the palate is easier to read. Although the tannins did not quite reach the refinement of those from 2021, they were fine enough, abundant and still raw. The wine finished with a moderate 13.3% alcohol. Always selected from their oldest plots, the blend this year is 60% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca, 5% Tinta Barroca and 5% Tinta Roriz matured in 225-liter French oak barrels, 45% of them new. 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2024.

Vinous (95)

The 2019 Cabernet Franc Dolomite has an energetic, tensile nose of wonderfully defined red and black fruit, sage, bell pepper and clove aromas; hints of dried blood emerge with time. The palate is very well balanced, taut and fresh, with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a harmonious, sophisticated finish, and suggestions of black pepper on the aftertaste. This is a brilliant Cabernet Franc from Raats that will age gloriously.

Greg Sherwood MW (98)

The Eden 2022 is another ultra confident showstopper from Bruwer Raats’ tiny 0.2-hectare vineyard. This pristine Eden Cabernet Franc displays the most tantalising intensity and florality on the nose with a notable depth, seductive power and a piercing perfume focus. High toned, lifted and utterly beguiling, the aromatics display an exotic fanned peacock’s tail of pressed violets, cherry blossom and dried lavender over notes of oregano, dried thyme, sweet cherry compote, saline crème de cassis, oystershell, pencil shavings and delicate blueberry rock candy nuances. The palate is always underpinned by incredibly fine tannins but with this 2022, the vivacity, concentration and freshness of the accompanying acids bring immeasurable joy to the palate, seamlessly counterbalancing the complex red and black berry fruit intensity. This wine is all about purity, precision, and persistence, with a mouthfeel texture of silk and the most polished fine-grained granitic mineral tannins imaginable. This is surely as close as you are going to get to perfection with a young, energetic, premium Cabernet Franc in South Africa? Drink on release an over the next 10 to 15+ years. (598 bottles produced.)

Vinous (95)

The 2022 Chenin Blanc Eden High Density Single Vineyard comes from the tiny plot around Bruwer Raats's home, vines from the Montpellier clone planted on their own stakes (echelas) at 8,000 per hectare. Whole bunch pressed and aged for 11 months in French oak (30% new), this pure and refined bouquet brings scents of yellow plum, beeswax, dried honey and lanolin. The palate is smooth and sensual right from the start, not plush, but there is a rondeur to this Chenin Blanc, lightly spiced with a little more viscosity on the finish compared to Raats's other Chenins this vintage. Very sustained on the finish, this will be utterly seductive. Just 2,300 bottles were produced, alas.

Vinous (97)

The 2018 MR de Compostella is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 5% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. It presents a compelling bouquet of blackberry, charcoal, cedar and tobacco, all showing wonderful delineation and focus. But it is not the most flamboyant on the nose compared to other vintages; this takes its time to open at a stately pace. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, perfectly judged acidity, a silky-smooth texture and an utterly harmonious, complex finish. Residues of allspice and clove linger on the long aftertaste. Brilliant.

Greg Sherwood MW (98)

Never made with exactly the same blend in any two vintages, the 2020 is a classic Cape Bordeaux assemblage of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot with a total production of only 1,000 x 6. The wine displays a real intensity in the glass with a ruby red rim and a red / black plum heart. The aromatics are vibrant and fabulously perfumed, bursting from the glass with expressive notes of red and black berry fruits, black currant, raspberry, red and black cherry, before notes of earthy blueberry emerge with suggestions of pressed violets, lavender, sweet sandalwood, star anise and graphite spice. On the palate, the vintage’s regal elegance emerges with exhilarating acids framing the plush opulent red and back berry fruits, saline cassis, tart red cherry and a blueberry confectionary generosity. Tasting the wine with Bruwer Raats, inevitable comparisons were made to the iconic 2017 MR, with both wines sharing a beautifully bright acid freshness and a weightless concentration of pure berry fruits with only the slightest suggestion of vanilla oak spice. This really is a wine with a mixed palette of colours, flavours and fruits and the most seamlessly elegant, finessed velvety tannins. Following on from the 2018 blockbuster, with no 2019 MR produced, this 2020 is a bold, enchanting, characterful wine full of precision that trumpets the return of this incredible benchmark Cape classic. A breathtaking wine on so many levels. Drink from 2024 to 2045+.

Greg Sherwood MW (98)

Never made with exactly the same blend in any two vintages, the 2020 is a classic Cape Bordeaux assemblage of 30% Cabernet Franc, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Malbec, 16% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot with a total production of only 1,000 x 6. The wine displays a real intensity in the glass with a ruby red rim and a red / black plum heart. The aromatics are vibrant and fabulously perfumed, bursting from the glass with expressive notes of red and black berry fruits, black currant, raspberry, red and black cherry, before notes of earthy blueberry emerge with suggestions of pressed violets, lavender, sweet sandalwood, star anise and graphite spice. On the palate, the vintage’s regal elegance emerges with exhilarating acids framing the plush opulent red and back berry fruits, saline cassis, tart red cherry and a blueberry confectionary generosity. Tasting the wine with Bruwer Raats, inevitable comparisons were made to the iconic 2017 MR, with both wines sharing a beautifully bright acid freshness and a weightless concentration of pure berry fruits with only the slightest suggestion of vanilla oak spice. This really is a wine with a mixed palette of colours, flavours and fruits and the most seamlessly elegant, finessed velvety tannins. Following on from the 2018 blockbuster, with no 2019 MR produced, this 2020 is a bold, enchanting, characterful wine full of precision that trumpets the return of this incredible benchmark Cape classic. A breathtaking wine on so many levels. Drink from 2024 to 2045+.

Greg Sherwood MW (99)

The MR de Compostella from Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve possesses one of the most successful critical track records out of almost any red wine produced in South Africa let alone just in the Cape Bordeaux Blend category. The newest 2021 release astonishingly takes this wine to yet another higher niveau of quality with a blend of 26% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Malbec, 20% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Made from vines aged between 9 and 22 years old, all grown on deep decomposed dolomitic granite soils with table mountain sandstone, the aromatics are wonderfully bold and exuberant displaying seductive notes of blackberries, crème de cassis, violets, sweet cherry tobacco, black cherries and tart black plum. The lifted perfumed intensity is incredibly pure and piercing with salty liquorice, cedar spice and beautifully detailed maritime oyster shell nuances. In the mouth, the concentration and focused steely intensity is astounding – tart, bright and architecturally soaring, shaping this wine into a powerful, linear, multi-dimensional masterpiece. Packed full of salty cassis, tart plum and black currant, the tightly wound core of power, refined extraction and polished marble tannins leave you in no doubt that this harmonious, vibrant beauty is a spellbinding, timeless classic in the making. If you wanted just one wine to convince an international fine wine connoisseur of the true greatness of South Africa’s finest terroirs and winemaking, you have found your candidate! Simply an incredible wine. Drink this beauty from 2024 and savour over the next 30+ years. But you might need more than just one or two cases in your cellar!!

Vinous (94)

The 2018 Ava Syrah is whole-bunch-fermented and matured in used 225- and 500-liter French oak. It has a very pure and seductive bouquet, a mélange of blueberry, cassis and raspberry coulis, all beautifully controlled. The medium-bodied palate reveals a slightly honeyed texture. There is impressive intensity here, with hints of dark chocolate and black plum fruit, and suggestions of sea salt and licorice toward the persistent finish. It errs on the side of hedonism but maintains outstanding focus all the way through. Brilliant.

Vinous (97)

The 2021 Syrah Ava comes from two schist vineyards, the main component from the parcel that forms the Rall Syrah, in a corner where the clusters are very small. It has a compelling bouquet with dark berry fruit, slate-like scents, hints of broom and Provençal herbs. The palate is medium-bodied with a dense yet paradoxically elegant frame of tannins, precise peppery black fruit with a persistent, beautifully proportioned finish. All this at just 11.9% alcohol. Brilliant.

Wine Advocate (95)

Donovan Rall's 2023 Swartland Syrah Ava represents a selection of fruit from two vineyards with schistic soils. Production is limited to 2,000 bottles. This wine has a core of dark fruit and shows the proverbial "Swartland darkness" that you often find in the best wines from this remote region. There is stony mineral and lead pencil; however, you also get dark cherry, blackberry and plum. The alcohol is very contained at 11.8%, although the label says 12%. You can count on this bottle for jovial brightness, fruit buoyancy and elegantly chalky tannins.

Tim Atkin MW (95)

A wine doesn't have to be big to be complex," says Donovan Rall of this refined, ageworthy Cinsault, which combines fruit from Darling and the Swartland. Textured, refreshing yet with quite a bit of tannin for the variety, this is crunchy, complex and elegant with layers of summer berry and black cherry fruit. 2022-26