Tasting Notes

Cabernet Franc is much under-rated and rarely cultivated outside its traditional habitats of Bordeaux and Loire. At Domaine Mas Barrau in the Gard region of Southern Rhône, Boutinot’s Guillaume (Letang ) and Samantha (Bailey) have worked together with the family of this organic estate near Nîmes to produce a wine that sets new standards for Cabernet Franc.

Textured and luxurious this is a sophisticated Cabernet Franc from Gard. There is a wild 'after the rain' woodland perfume. The palate is incredibly long and layered with bramble fruit, bay and a touch of sweet prune on the finish.

Production Method

Guillaume Letang looked specifically for vines that are south-facing and can achieve the most sunlight to source the Cabernet Franc grapes for this wine. The terroir is full of limestone which gives rich yet soft and lightly acidic wine – this, in turn, gives the drinker a pleasantly sweet sensation on the palate.

Producer

Like all good stories, Boutinot France's is both long and a little bit complicated! Boutinot began as a tiny importer in 1980, specialising in French wines. After 10 years, the business had grown and Samantha Bailey packed her bags to set up an office in Burgundy. Today, Boutinot has over 20 employees who take care of production across the whole of France, covering fresh whites and rosés from Gascony, mineral wines from Burgundy, and joyful varietal wines from Languedoc among others. We don't use any single 'model' to source our wines; instead, a combination of sources are used, from large-scale, high-quality co-ops to small, family growers and single domaines as well as our own vineyards in Cairanne and Saint-Véran. Drawing on the expertise of our 4 winemakers and network of partner growers, we seek to deliver the highest quality to price ratio possible at every price point.

Specifications

A marvellous, lean, moustached celebration of the mighty Cab Franc. Meet Captain Francis Frobisher, otherwise known as CABARET FRANK. A celebration to the marvellous, lean and mighty Cabernet Franc grape variety.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Bright notes of juicy red fruits are complemented by blackcurrant leaf notes so typical of Cabernet Franc.

Palate

Smooth, medium-bodied and easy-drinking wine that strikes a lovely balance with its blackberry, plum and dark cherry fruit characters coupled with classic varietal leafy tones.

Production

Made predominantly from Old Vine Cabernet Franc (85%), the balance being a harmonious blob of sibling Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are harvested from 'old vines' (45 years) sourced from the single biggest Cabernet Franc vineyard in the world located in Lodi, Central California. The wine has spent just two months on oak to enable the true flavours and characters of the Cabernet Franc (and touch of Cabernet Sauvignon) to shine through.

Alan's Tasting Notes

"Perfect pizza wine - full-bodied and flavoured with sweet cherry fruit and a slight smokiness. Well-balanced and very moreish - and the most interesting packaging - a real handlebar delight!" July 2022

Specifications

Specifications

Radiant, Unctous and Fruity! Sublime Expression of Cabernet Franc

Finesse oblige! If it doesn't "have" to be champagne, then the best alternative is Crémant: a pure-bred rosé made from 100% of the noble red Cabernet Franc grape.

Tasting Notes

Producer

Over 150 years of History! Founded in 1859, this independent and family run Maison Louis de Grenelle has passed down its expertise through the generations. It continues the tradition of making sparkling wines in the depths of its cellars burrowed underneath Saumur in the heart of the Valley of Kings, the Val de Loire.

Specifications

Its name derives from the average height of the selected parcels for this Blend.

Tasting Notes

Cabernet Franc 50%, Malbec 45%, Casavecchia 5%. Three are the varieties that compose this complex and balanced wine of intense purple colour. Cabernet Franc provides spicy and floral notes, while Malbec provides berries notes. It presents a good length and it is very persistent due to its tannins. It is an elegant blend with a great structure.

Vineyards

Doña Paula 1350 comes from 2 quarters (N° 10 and N° 7) from Finca Alluvia, Gualtallary, located at 1350 meters above sea level. The ground is sandy, with alluvial and calcareous stones. The weather of Valle de Uco represents mild days and cold nights, with a thermal amplitude of 12,5°C, and an annual rain average of 280 mm. The vines are planted in ESPALDERO, and they are watered by drip feed. The performance per hectare is of 10 tons. In Doña Paula, we have always been practicing sustainable agriculture methods

Vinification

The harvest starts with Malbec and Casavecchia by mid-April, and it finishes with Cabernet Franc at the end of the same month. The grapes are hand-picked and then they are destemmed gently, without breaking the berries. Each variety undergoes cold maceration separately, in stainless steel tanks, to extract the primary aromas. Once the alcoholic fermentation is complete, the blend is made, and the aging process is carried out in 20% new French oak barrels, for 16 months.

Awards

• 93 points Tim Atkins MW Argentina Report
• 93 points James Suckling

Specifications

A rewarding and satisfyingly juicy mix of Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Circle of Life tells the story of Waterkloof: a once conventionally farmed property transformed into a living, breathing organic and regenerative vineyard by Farm Manager Christiaan Loots and his team.

Tasting notes

A harmonious blend that combines the spiciness of Syrah, the ripe, youthful fruits of Petit Verdot and the juiciness from Cabernet Franc. The beginning is fresh and full of fruit with good acidity, evolving into riper flavours with lightly spicy notes. Elegant tannins and fine, bright acid on the finish.

For moments when good food and wine
are at the heart of a gathering.

Tasting Notes

Production

The grapes are hand-harvested and processed using a pneumatic press in whole bunches, followed by juice fractionation. The pure cuvée is then selected, and cold static sludge removal is carried out. Selected yeasts are used for alcoholic fermentation at low temperatures, with grape varieties fermented separately. The wine is grown on full lees until December, when the first racking is done without sulfites. Blend tasting takes place in December, and bottling occurs from January to June.

Producer

Over 150 years of History! Founded in 1859, this independent and family run Maison Louis de Grenelle has passed down its expertise through the generations. It continues the tradition of making sparkling wines in the depths of its cellars burrowed underneath Saumur in the heart of the Valley of Kings, the Val de Loire.

Specifications

Tasting Notes 

Dolomite wines express great purity of fruit and balanced elegance. The nose shows dark and red cherry. Dark berries, spiciness and herbs linger on the palate. The wine has great purity of fruit with a hint of wet-stone minerality and a velvet soft finish.

Producer

After making wine around the world and honing his craft in the Cape, Bruwer Raats established Raats Family Wines in 2000, based on a policy of ‘excellence through specialisation’, focusing on two unfashionable grapes varieties at the time, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc.Purchasing the only land he could afford, some relatively cheap and ‘undesirable’ plots in the Polkadraai Hills, it soon became apparent that the unique granite-based terroir was producing some incredible wines, and is now recognised as one of the finest wards in Stellenbosch. His Eden High Density Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, and the iconic MR de Compostella hold a place as some of South Africa’s finest wines and sit comfortably amongst the best expressions of the varieties on the planet.

Production

The grapes come from Stellenbosch and are grown only on decomposed dolomite granite soils. This lends itself to great acidity, freshness and an extended mineral finish. Individual vineyard blocks were hand-picked at perfect ripeness during February.

Grapes were hand sorted three times, crushed and left to cold soak on the skins for five days. After fermentation at a temperature of 28°C, the grapes were basket pressed before malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Aged in oak for 14 months.

Accolades & Awards

Tim Atkin South Africa Report 2024 91 Points

'Dolomite is always the most floral and approachable of Bruwer Raats' quartet of Cabernet Francs, aged in an equal combination of older oak and concrete. Tarragon, green pepper and graphite aromas are a scented prelude to a palate of tomato leaf and black cherry and a crunchy finish.' 2025-30. 91 Points, TA, 2024.

Specifications

A wine is only bottled under the Waterkloof label when one of the vineyard blocks on the Schapenberg offers up something extraordinary. This fourth such release from a great vintage for reds is a wonderfully complex Bordeaux blend, predominantly Cabernet Franc.

Tasting notes

Sublimely complex aromas of redcurrant, plum and red cherry with cedary spice and a hint of pencil shaving. The predominance of Cabernet Franc gives a wine of subtlety and elegance with lifted berry fruit and a supple, finely structured mid palate. Firm yet fine tannins frame the spicy, ethereal finish.

A fine, distinctive blend of 90% Syrah with 10% Cabernet Franc, each from a single vineyard parcel in the Franschhoek valley. A natural approach to winemaking gives a fresh, expressive style with attractively wild berry fruit characters.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Warm and spicy on the nose, aromas of fresh crushed raspberries and black cherry mingle with black pepper, allspice and woodsmoke. 

Palate

The palate has breadth and natural juiciness combining fresh cranberry and red berry fruit with spicy, peppercorn flavours. Best served at cool room temperature.

Production

Wildeberg is our small farm in Franschhoek. Only 10ha can be planted to vines, the rest is wild. The fruit for the Wildeberg wines comes from the Franschhoek Valley only, hand-harvested, naturally-fermented and gently matured in our mountain barrel hall on the farm. A blend of roughly 90% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Franc, both parcels of fruit were hand-harvested then allowed to macerate carbonically without press. These wild ferments were left to themselves with just one daily manual punchdown followed by 12 months ageing in 600 ltr French oak barrels.

Producer

The Earth’s mantle thrusts up above the gentle town of Franschhoek, a wild slice of untamed mountain on which sits a farm named Wildeberg. An established wine region for some 350 years, sensible generations never thought to plant a vine here until a happy band of idealists recently craned their necks up at this hillside and, dizzy with hope, decided to give it a go. Franschhoek is on the very edge of the south-eastern corner of the Cape’s venerable Coastal Region, indeed Wildeberg’s property border runs over the top of the mountain where the Coastal Region gives way to the baboon-strewn road to Grabouw and the wider Western Cape.

The Wildeberg wines express the most captivating Franschhoek Valley fruit. In our Wildeberg Terroirs bottlings we look beyond our home to a clutch of exceptional sites of other origin.

A mountain rich in metaphor with the visual heft to flatter any wine, releases of Wildeberg and Terroirs express our continued purpose – exceptional wines of place, however humble the origin. If the abiding memory of our wines remains a textural sense of place then we are portraying the Cape as hoped.

Sustainability

Wildeberg is a 144ha wine farm set against the backdrop of the dramatic Franschhoek mountains, on the very edge of viticultural possibilities. To farm here you have to be in tune with nature, respecting the earth and the elements, creating wines which truly express the terroir with minimal intervention.

This special area is home to 4 endangered Fynbos species, and a key mission of Wildeberg is to conserve this vegetation type as they are critical to the biodiversity of the Western Cape. This work entails clearing invasive alien trees which can overwhelm the Fynbos and contribute to the threat of forest fires. Fynbos covered mountains like those at Wildeberg are thought to be responsible for delivering one glass of water in five in South Africa, due to the plants allowing up to 80% of rainwater to run off into rivers and reservoirs rather than being absorbed into the soil.

Water is precious in South Africa, and waste water from the winery passes through a natural wetland with indigenous reeds and plants before being pumped into our irrigation dam. We then use this water to irrigate the vines.

All Wildeberg wines are certified as part of South Africa’s sustainability accreditation, the ‘Integrated Production of Wine’ (IPW) system. The IPW scheme, started in 1998, consists of a set of audited guidelines specifying agricultural practices, manufacturing practices and bottling activities.

Wildeberg is also a proud member of the Cape’s Old Vine Project (OVP), which preserves blocks of vines which are 35 years and older. The project encourages producers to farm as close to nature as possible whilst raising awareness of the inherent potential of old vines to produce outstanding and expressive wines.

Specifications

Please contact Alan directly if you are interested in these wines - as En Primeur they are currently in barrel and not in stock.

A unique and elegant wine.

L'Bruno de' Venti

The  story  is  told  that  many  years  ago, the  woods  surrounding  this vineyard were  the  refuge  of  a  dark  skinned reclusive  with  piercing  eyes, very  attractive  to  women. He  lived  by  poaching  game and  doing  whatever  he could. No  one  knew  exactly  where he  lived,  but  from  time  to  time he  appeared  near  Poggio  ai  Venti vineyard,  and  so  the  people hereabouts  called  him “’l  Bruno de’  Venti ” (the  Dark  Fellow  of  the  Winds).

Introducing Fattorie dei Dolfi

Born from ancient family vineyards and the infectious passion of a career-change winemaker, Fattorie dei Dolfi is a relatively young estate with a remarkably bright future. Giovanni Dolfi initially pursued a very successful career as a horse trainer during which he had the opportunity to meet the Queen Mother and began working for Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta, the owner of the legendary Tenuta San Guido which produces Sassicaia. Through this connection he was introduced to the estate’s winemaker, Giacomo Tachis, who is regarded as the father of Sassicaia and was named Decanter’s Man of the Year in 2011. From then on Giovanni’s fate was sealed and it was only a matter of time before he and Giacomo began exploring how to unlock the potential of his family’s century-old vineyards close to the city of Pisa. Oeno Director and Co-founder Daniel Carnio describes Giovanni’s project as “a small paradise” thanks to his relentless commitment to quality in his vineyards. Most of Fattorie dei Dolfi’s plots are surrounded by woodland which helps to shield the vines from contamination from other forms of agriculture and preserves a high degree of biodiversity. As well as creating a very low incidence of disease, this also means the estate does not need to use any chemicals on the vines. To allow the remarkable quality of the fruit to shine through, Giovanni uses a light touch in the winery as well with his wines ageing in oak barrels previously used for Sassicaia. The estate’s top wines will be produced in tiny quantities of a few thousand bottles a year, making them highly attractive for investors and collectors of fine and rare Italian wines.

The Artorius and Imeneus red wines are both crafted using the Prugnolo Gentile grape which is the Sangiovese clone typically used in Montalcino. The former is an easy-going style ideal for enjoying with family and friends alongside a simple, wholesome meal. Imeneus, which is named after the beautiful son of Aphrodite and Bacchus in Greek mythology, is a more serious red which ages in oak barrels for up to 36 months. This bottling is a true collector’s wine with a remarkably complex flavour profile and high investment potential.

Finally, Bianco Per Amore is Giovanni’s personal project, created to be a wine that he himself would like to drink. Reminiscent of fine white Burgundy, this generous and full bodied white is made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot grapes. Giovanni only produces around 150 bottles of this very special wine of which he retains a significant proportion for his own drinking pleasure!

Tasting Notes

‘L Bruno De’ Venti is a Bordeaux blend. Dark currents pervade with a muscular back bone. Pure of fruit, the tannins are well rounded. Merlot vines from massal selection or between 50-70 years old. Cabernet Franc vines from massal selection of old vines.

Colour

Ruby red tending to garnet, velvety yet brilliant.

Fragrance

Very fragrant and rich with intense notes of cherry, plums and hints of toasted spices.

Flavour

Authoritarian and persistent, with soft and elegant tannins.

Bottles Produced

• Vintage 2008: 1743 (non more available).    
• Vintage 2009: 1790 (non more available).    
• Vintage 2010: 1696 (non more available).
• Vintage 2011: 1811 (non more available).
• Vintage 2012: 1432 

Specifications

Please contact Alan directly if you are interested in these wines - as En Primeur they are currently in barrel and not in stock.

A fine, harmonious, first-class wine.

LL’ Amor De’ Santi

This  is  the  title  of  a  15th-century  prayer  in  the  Tuscan language that the farmer,  together with the parish priest,  used to recite in the fields,  invoking the protection of the saints against misfortunes and to have a good harvest.

Introducing Fattorie dei Dolfi

Born from ancient family vineyards and the infectious passion of a career-change winemaker, Fattorie dei Dolfi is a relatively young estate with a remarkably bright future. Giovanni Dolfi initially pursued a very successful career as a horse trainer during which he had the opportunity to meet the Queen Mother and began working for Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta, the owner of the legendary Tenuta San Guido which produces Sassicaia. Through this connection he was introduced to the estate’s winemaker, Giacomo Tachis, who is regarded as the father of Sassicaia and was named Decanter’s Man of the Year in 2011. From then on Giovanni’s fate was sealed and it was only a matter of time before he and Giacomo began exploring how to unlock the potential of his family’s century-old vineyards close to the city of Pisa. Oeno Director and Co-founder Daniel Carnio describes Giovanni’s project as “a small paradise” thanks to his relentless commitment to quality in his vineyards. Most of Fattorie dei Dolfi’s plots are surrounded by woodland which helps to shield the vines from contamination from other forms of agriculture and preserves a high degree of biodiversity. As well as creating a very low incidence of disease, this also means the estate does not need to use any chemicals on the vines. To allow the remarkable quality of the fruit to shine through, Giovanni uses a light touch in the winery as well with his wines ageing in oak barrels previously used for Sassicaia. The estate’s top wines will be produced in tiny quantities of a few thousand bottles a year, making them highly attractive for investors and collectors of fine and rare Italian wines.

The Artorius and Imeneus red wines are both crafted using the Prugnolo Gentile grape which is the Sangiovese clone typically used in Montalcino. The former is an easy-going style ideal for enjoying with family and friends alongside a simple, wholesome meal. Imeneus, which is named after the beautiful son of Aphrodite and Bacchus in Greek mythology, is a more serious red which ages in oak barrels for up to 36 months. This bottling is a true collector’s wine with a remarkably complex flavour profile and high investment potential.

Finally, Bianco Per Amore is Giovanni’s personal project, created to be a wine that he himself would like to drink. Reminiscent of fine white Burgundy, this generous and full bodied white is made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot grapes. Giovanni only produces around 150 bottles of this very special wine of which he retains a significant proportion for his own drinking pleasure!

Tasting Notes

LL’ Amor De’ Santi named after a 15th century Tuscan prayer, but is modern is style. Red currants and cranberry come through with hints of spice. There is a rich texture, with an elegant and unique taste of medium tannins.

Colour

Full ruby-red tending to garnet, balanced and brilliant.

Fragrance

Full, noble and developed bouquet with intense notes of black fruits and hints of plum and blackberry.

Flavour

Also full, of great finesse and authority. Rich texture, elegant and unique, deep and soft with a long and pleasantly tannic closing.

Specifications