Le Riche, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

“In a year when the 2022 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign has flopped because of high prices, Cabernet Sauvignon lovers would be well advised to buy a case or two of this world-class red from a family that's rightly associated with high-class Stellenbosch alternatives to the wines of the Médoc. One of the best-ever reds from the region, made with components from five different vineyards, this has an incredible perfume of mountain herbs, fennel and coffee beans, layered, patrician tannins, amazing energy and density and a fruit bowl of plum, damson, blueberry and blackcurrant. What a wine! The Latour of South Africa. 2026-40”

99pts, Tim Atkin

“ Things come, things go, fashions turn … but, year after year, Stellenbosch quietly gets on with producing some of the Southern Hemisphere’s most assured Cabernet Sauvignon. We had an example among our Platinum winners last year, so it was satisfying to see a Best in Show contender this year, and this graceful and accomplished wine didn’t take long to win its place in the Top 50. It’s dark black-red in the glass, with serenely curranty scents teased to perfect ripeness and lent dimension by oak without any overt woody stamp obtruding on that fruited charm. The wine exhibits a perfect combination of weight, muscle and energy in the mouth: it’s every inch the athlete. At the end of the palate, though, that singing, lyrical fruit returns before tapering off in a finish that leaves the mouth clean and fresh yet hoping for more. Spot on.”

97pts, Decanter