Joostenberg Bakermat 2020 [Sample]

I’ve loved this wine ever since first tasting it a good while back. Joosteberg are another repeat offender in my recycling crate. This Bakermat red blend drinks so seamlessly that it’s almost hard to pick out individual elements. So being gifted this wine gave me another crack at dissecting the satisfying aromas and flavours that I adore about it.

The Wine:

The dense dark colour ties into wafts of sun-warmed black Damson plums plucked straight from the tree, along with blackberry compote. It's lifted by raspberries & red plum coulee; warmed by gentle star anise, cloves, mace, and cherry cola; and anchored by cedar, and herbal rosemary & thyme stalks. There’s also a suggestion of dark soy and miso paste drifting over the top each time I swirl.

Dry and fuller bodied, but the density is cut by perky acidity so it never feels heavy. There's noticeable heat, composed herbaceous medium tannins, moutwatering fruit, and a decent length to the finish.

The herbaceous greeness is really attractive - a wholebunch grip that grabs a firm hold of you...pulling you into the rosemary, thyme stalks, and fine white pepper. Together with the rich viscosity, the younger ribbed tannins feel like smoothing velvet fabric the wrong way.

And it all ends with a wonderful ripe dark spiced plum empty glass sniff!

Vini + Viti:

Organically farmed Syrah 56%, Cabernet Sauvignon 11%, Mourvédre 22%, and Grenache Noir 11% from decomposed granite and clay shale soils in Paarl.

The Cabernet Sauvignon was destemmed, the rest of the grapes were partially destemmed (60%). Fermented in small open-topped tanks, then matured for 22 months in old 500L casks. No additives apart from a small amount of SO2 were used.

ALC 13.5% | RS 1.1g/L | TA 5.7 g/L | PH 3.59

Final thoughts:

Bakermat, means “birth-place” or “cradle” in Dutch. The name pays homage to Joostenberg, home to the Myburgh family for 5 generations.

There are few certified organic producers in the Cape, and Joostenberg are one of them. So I was stoked when they offered to send along two of their wines. Funnily enough, a week later I bumped into Tyrrel Myburgh, the owner and winemaker, at a tasting. So I’ve had a double dose of this deeeelicious Bakermat!