Radford Dale The Antidote 2018
I’ve been chasing this wine since I first found out about a South African Gamay Noir. After tasting a glass at an awesome wine bar, I knew I had to find a few bottles to devour.
I finally found it...but turned out...they were 2018’s...a rushed tasting had me realising that I’d had a glass of the previous vintage. So herewith my notes to the delicious glass of 2017.
Dark berries, raspberries, plums, game, earth, barnyard and spice on the nose. Darker than the Beaujolais feels I’d been chasing...a bit of me missed the sour cherries but there’s still good acidity and gentle tannins. Juicy and fresh.
Conclusion:
Balance (1) + Length (1) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (½) = A good wine.
Drink now but has potential for a few more years of further ageing.
Viti + Vini:
The grapes were hand harvested at dawn, a combo of whole bunch and whole berry carbonic maceration using wild yeasts. Basket pressed, 12 months in older French oak and unfiltered.
Final thoughts:
I was curious to get down to the bottom of why the 2017 and 2018 are quite different. After a fun and rather boisterous meetup at the bar with the winery team, I learned that the difference lies in the use of stalks. 2017 was their first attempt at making the wine, and through its evolution in bottle, the winemaker decided on adding fewer stems to the 2018 vintage. I look forward to tasting their 2019 vintage to see how much more they’ve learned with their 3rd vintage.