" Excellent” - Neal Martin, Vinous.com.... “Is this the best Cab Sauvignon in South Africa right now? Yes.” Natasha Hughes MW. The first time I tried Restless River was the 2007 in 2015. I shall not forget it. No Cabernet from South Africa had impressed me more. It put me in mind of a top vintage of Chateau Leoville-Poyferre. On a recent visit to Restless River, in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, I tasted a vertical of 2016 to 2019. It was a spectacular tasting. Each vintage was so good, and a product of the conditions of the year. It was exciting to be able to pinpoint these details in each wine, which can easily be lost by too much oak, or trying too hard to impress. I've always thought Restless River was a very special Cabernet, but this was a totally convincing tasting! The 2020 displays beautiful blackcurrant, red currant, graphite, a hint of tar, minerality, and complex notes of wood and fruit, some tobacco leaf and cedar. This comes from two very small vineyards, one called Main Road and one called Dignity. Craig has planted another couple of edgy exposed vineyards nearby which look like they could produce very exciting fruit indeed. While the wine seems effortless, the work that has gone into creating the right conditions, the perfectionist attitude, is off the scale. To have come this far in just 20 years, and to be making world class Cabernet is incredible.

#Tasting#

Restless River is a rising star that has quietly achieved cult-status for its brilliant, Burgundian-style Chardonnay and ultra-elegant Cabernet Sauvignon. Launched in 2012 by Craig Wessels, who, alongside his successful career in digital production, also raced motorbikes and flew helicopters around the Cape, along with his ex-model wife Anne, their farm is located in the beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Its home to some of the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay vines in the region (planted in 1998). At Restless River, things are done in an unhurried way, with great dedication and attention to detail. Almost all their production is done by hand, resulting in limited quantities of each wine, and demand far exceeding supply. Restless River is defined by its terroir, and Craig Wessels' thoughtful and careful winemaking allows it to be the star of the show.

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