PaardenKloof Die Fynboshuis Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
I confess, I’d never seen anything by this producer before. I was kind of surprised to come across this 2010 on a supermarket shelf. So confused that I had to buy it. And of course that meant opening it ASAP to figure out whether I need to rush back and buy more bottles.
As I opened it, I said out loud ‘yup, that’s a Cabernet’. Intoxicating aromas of ripe black berries, red berries, fynbos, eucalyptus, cedar, tobacco, smoke, cloves, chocolate and leather. Good acidity, all the berries, chewy tannins and a long dark cocoa finish. Savoury too. I think I’ll definitely be picking up another bottle or two for any dinner parties in the near future.
Conclusion:
Balance (1) + Length (1) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (1) = A very good wine.
Drink now but has potential for a few more years of further ageing. The tertiary notes are already very present so I wouldn’t anticipate this holding on for more than 5 years.
Final Thoughts:
PaardenKloof means valley of the horses. It’s a historic site that was inhabited by the Khoi-San hundreds of years ago to herd their Nguni cattle. And later by the Voortrekkers who herded their horses on the higher slopes to escape the Tsetse flies. Paardenkloof celebrates the environment, historical preservation and sustainable farming. They were the first to reintroduce a Nguni herd to the area.
