Some 15 years ago I attended the New York Wine Expo at a bunker called the Jacob Javitz Convention Centre in Manhattan. After a long afternoon in my exit I made a last valiant effort to try a few South African red wines. The majority of them had an earthy-gamey streak to them. South African reds appear to have escaped that trait but I retain that memory and test it now and again as we will do with a Glen Carlou 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine was aged 16 months in second fill French oak. The grapes were harvested from 10 different but proximate vineyards on the slopes of Simonsberg Mountain.
Aroma: Chockful of ripe dark fruit with a rich vein of blueberry and some dark chocolate. A wine that is evolving nicely with some good legs left.
Palate: Recovering from a Clarence Dillon 2016 Clarendelle Bordeaux last time around it was refreshing that this wine was not suffering from a rapid decline! Not a spring chicken but a young adult. Full bodied with some discernible mint on its long finish. Some noticeable acidity but within respectable boundaries. The blueberry and blackberries mushroom on the back palate.
Food match: South African Bobotie.
Personality: My Cabernet Sauvignon cousins in the Wine World have different characteristics but one common element in many of them would be blueberry which I have in my aromatic and palate attributes. Did I just hear RKS Wine say “Well done Glen Carlou as you have delivered a quality wine at an eminently reasonable price.” Also I thought I heard them saying no earthy and gamey streak in me. Bravo RKS Wine!
Price: $18.95 CDN.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100.
(Glen Carlou 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, WO Paarl, Glen Carlou Vineyards, Klapmuts, South Africa, 750 mL, 14.5%).
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