Tasted April 2009

Having made a name for himself at Buitenverwachting and Morgenhof, Jean Daneel made the break & set up his own cellar in 1997 to start producing wine under his own name. Initially he bought grapes in but was also keen to get his own vineyard. He found a small property in the emerging Napier area and now produces a number of wines (four as far as I know but possibly a couple of other things too). You may have tried his Signature range but this is the level just below those wines. This is the new vintage of the Initial Red so I was keen to crack it open and give it a go.

Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Shiraz…wow now that is a blend.

Region: Napier, South Africa

Winemaking: Jean does a lot of consulting for various wineries, as he does his rounds he spots the best parcels of grapes and bags them for this blend. As a result the blend of this wine changes every year, Jean is looking for the best grapes he can find and will work with them rather than striving to maintain the same wine from year to year..

ABV: 14%

Tasting Note
Lovely, complex nose of cassis, plums, black cherries & vanilla. On the palate this has sweet plummy fruit, cedarwood and I really picked up the Cabernet here - eucalyptus characters together with hints of chocolate. This wine is perfumed, medium bodied and elegant, all the components work incredibly well together to produce a complex, well balanced and interesting wine.

Cellaring
Fine now but will cellar in the short term, for the next 5 years.

If you like this, why not try…another quirky blend from South Africa is the Bosman, Adama 2007, albeit different grape varieties, but if you're a lover of something about out there this is a blend of Shiraz, Mourvedre, Primitivo and Viognier.