Tasting Note No.31
What a superb drop by Rust en Vrede (translates as: Peace and quiet)! I brought the 2000 Cabernet to the 1st club dinner of 2004 but it was corked. Before I could cry about it, Adair kindly presented the top shelf 'Estate' blend to cheer me up. Wow, what a wine it was!
The 'Estate' is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon 58%, Shiraz 33% and Merlot 9%. Harvested from the 50 hectares property, the wines were aged separately for 18 months in 300 litre French and American oak barrels, then blended and matured for an other 12 months in bottle. Alcohol is at 14.3% vol. Winemaker Louis Strydom knows exactly how to blend a great wine.
Brilliant dark cherry red colour, beautiful perfume of red berries, dark cherry fruit, plum and spices with the hint of vanilla.
Seamless, hugely rich, velvety palate of super DELICIOUS dark fruits, plum and spice, bluberries and cherry. What a great mouthful! The fruit harmony of this wine is sensational. Finishing with ripe tannins and fine acid, the wine is perfectly balanced. Joyful drinking already, will become deeply scented and more concentrated in 8 years time. A fantastic red blend, unlike any other I've tasted. Even Patron's Reserve (a similar blend) from BRAND'S Of Coonawarra doesn't have the elegance and class to match this outstanding South African.
I am impressed. Cost around AU $60, it is a bargain.
Tasted:January 2004
2000 RUST en VREDE 'Estate'-Stellenbosch,South Africa
2000 RUST en VREDE 'Estate'-Stellenbosch,South Africa
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