2009 A.A. Badenhorst Secateurs Red Blend

Stephen Tanzer
"89 pts ... Bright ruby-red. High-toned raspberry liqueur, dark chocolate and wild herbs on the nose; in a distinctly Southern style. Then sweet and seamless but with surprising firming acidity and grip. Not complex but juicy and powerful, with building, drying tannins. A bit Rayas-like but without the mystery."

Winemaker's Notes
"Peppery, spicy, smoky and exhibit ripe red fruit notes. Texture of this style of wine is supple, smooth on the entry but with enough grip to end dry and refreshing. The texture and finesse of the tannins is elegant and lasts through to a long finish. A wine that will age gracefully with time."

Technical Notes
"58% shiraz, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cinsault, 8% mourvedre, 4% grenache and 1% carignan. Most vines are planted on mountain sloped, un-irrigated, low-yielding, old bush- vines on various granite soil types. The grapes are hand picked and chilled overnight then crushed into concrete tanks for primary fermentation. The finished wine is run off into old casks and concrete tanks which have a low impact on the natural wine aromas and structures. The wine is then transferred to old French oak casks and left on its gross lees for 14 months, then lightly filtered, not fined, and then bottled. 14.2% alc. "