Tasting Notes
On a rare Swig team catch up day in October 2021, we were all blown away by the wine in our glass. It was this very wine - a sample from South Africa from a winemaker recommended to us by Alex Starey of Keermont. Produced from two sites, with a drop of Cinsault too, Atlas is Chris' largest production wine, at a whopping 3466 bottles! Softly smoky on the nose with attractive hints of green peppercorn, polished coffee bean and gentle bitterness too, and a hint of good old fashioned liquorice and redcurrant jelly. Amazing purity of fruit on the palate - mid weight, with very fine tannins and incredible persistence in the mouth.
More Info
It's thanks to Alex Starey of Keermont estate that we had the introduction to up-and-coming young winemaker, Chris Keet Jnr of Weather Report. Whilst his day job sees him working at Bot River Gabrielskloof estate, Weather Report is his small-production own label, so far solely exploring Cabernet Franc from a handful of tiny sites across the Western Cape. Wine positively flows in Chris' veins. His uncle is Chris Keet of Keet wines, formerly winemaker at former SA icon, Cordoba. He made the 1995 vintage of their Crescendo, one of South Africa's first cult wines.