2011 Keermont Estate Red

Alex felt that the 2010 Keermont did not reach the standard required and so declassified the crop. The 2011 Keermont is a blend of 49% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 6% Syrah matured for 24 months in French barrels of which 20% is new. It offers lovely brambly black fruit on the nose with touches of black currant pastilles emerging with time. The oak is very well-integrated and complements rather than dominates the fruit and with time, there is just a suggestion of cocoa emerging. The palate is succulent on the entry with lavish spicy black fruit. It is very harmonious and suave with a caressing, voluminous finish that lingers long in the mouth, with white pepper and fennel notes lending complexity. Lovely! Drink now-2018. I first visited Keermont back in 2011, I hooked up with Alex Starey at the winery in the Blaauklippen Valley. I have been a fan ever since. Mark and Monica Wraith’s 27-hectare vineyard located within their 155-hectare estate is predominantly devoted to Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and the Keermont proprietary wine debuting with the 2007. It has since been joined by a white Chenin Blanc and most recently, a sweet wine that I am eager to try myself. This is one of the new breed of South African producers that is moving the country forward with accomplished, refined expressions of Stellenbosch wine, so good that they make you wonder why you ever lavished all that money on expensive northern Rhones. If you want to see the new South Africa and catch a glimpse of what the future beholds, then look no further than Keermont. Importer: Kysela Pere et Fils, Ltd. ,331 Victory Road, Winchester, VA 22602. Tel 540 722 9228 E-mail: fran.k@kysela.com (website: www.kysela.com) and also through SWIG in the UK (www.swig.co.uk)