2008 The Chocolate Block

69% Syrah, 12% Grenache Noir, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cinsault and 2% Viognier. The Syrah fruit comes from Malmesbury, from deep-rooted, dry-farmed vines giving berries with huge concentration of colour, flavour and tannin structure. The old-vine Grenanche Noir is sourced from Citrusdal, with sandy soils, perfect for ripening this grape varietal and this batch was matured in 600l barrels. Cab Sauv and Viognier are from the organically-farmed vineyards of Boekenhoutskloof, whilst Cinsault is from old bush vines on the decomposed granite soils of Welbedacht in Wellington. The blended wine was matured in 2nd and 3rd fill French oak barrels for 15 months. Winemaker Marc Kent. TA 5.4g/l, pH 3.84, RS 3.5g/l. Deeply coloured, ripe, bright and dark fruited. Plenty of fine fruit spice. Sweet chocolate aroma. Lovely firm, dry texture. Full flavoured, generous but not fat or flabby. Big but not brawny. (JH)

Hugely successful please-all blend including Citrusdal Grenache and Wellington Cinsaut. The Syrah proportion has risen. '888 barrels' on the label – that's a lot of wine! Very successful worldwide, even to the extent of finding its name copied on other continents . Dark and lustrous. Crimson, sweet and scented and polished nose. Easy, gentle and accessible. Bright fruit and very slightly dusty (is that cocoa powder then?). This wine really sucks up to the drinker in an all-out charm offensive but it is (just) not sickly. (JR)