Last year I discovered that I have an affinity for South African wines. I reviewed a number of them and, quite frankly, I’ve been blown away by the extraordinary values that can be found there. Since then, a couple of my friends have visited South Africa and have told me that I must visit because the wines are extraordinary, it’s beautiful and the prices on the wines are unbelievably affordable. That sounds great to me, although I haven’t booked a trip yet.
This wine from Raats Family Wines is a great example of why I’ve fallen in love with South African wines. It’s a Bordeaux-style blend made from 55% cabernet franc, 28% malbec, 11% cabernet sauvignon and 6% petit verdot.
One of the things that I like about Raats Family Wines is that they have a focus. They specialize in chenin blanc and cabernet franc. I’ve found that the quality of the wines from producers who focus on one or two things tends to be consistently good, while producers who try to do everything are often more hit and miss. And while this particular wine is a red blend, cabernet franc is the key player in the blend and the other varieties are blended in to support that star.
It’s clear on the nose that this blend is most dominant in cabernet franc due to intense herbal and vegetal aromas. It also offers plenty of black cherry, blackberry and black currant aromatics. The palate is delicious, offering concentrated black currant, blackberry and coffee flavors with stellar acidity. The mouthfeel is velvety and the finish is very long, featuring black tea and black cherry flavors the linger on and on.
If you like cabernet franc, you’ll love this wine.
Wine: Raats Family Wines, Red Jasper
Variety: Red blend
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 89
Price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Raats Family Wines, Red Jasper with Snooth
